The End of this Wait and the Beginning of Another
by wheretheskyseaandearthmeet
Summary: Thinking of the future but holding onto the past, decisions must be made. Will he choose her? Will she choose him? Or will they both just let go and hopefully move on?
1. Author's notes 1

This story is a dedication to all the Jeyna fans out there. The night before October 12th, we will be in absolute chaos and I wrote this as a reminder that even if Jasper is officially made canon, as they were in the Demigod Diaries, it is not the end of our OTP. We can keep this ship afloat with the undying love we have for both Reyna and Jason. In saying this, you probably know how my story goes now, even if you didn't already know from reading the tags beforehand.

Just a warning; this story has more fluffiness and more clichés than a teenage drama TV series and if you can't handle that, then I suggest you close this tab and satisfy your Jeyna needs elsewhere. But you know what? They are called clichés for a reason.

As I have started to post this story very late (i.e. 28/10/12), it will probably continue running even after the release of the Mark of Athena, but please be reassured that I will update quickly (i.e. every day). Unless I am hit by a giant meteorite while walking from my front door to my mail box, I can be counted on for this. Even if I do get hit by one, I will still upload chapters because I do not want to waste the hours I spent writing this story, although some would say I already have by doing just so. But don't worry, I don't leave my house. Ever.

Also, stay tuned for some deleted scenes I will include at the end, after I have finished posting this entire story.

If you have read this entire page I must give you a round of applause and if I were wearing a hat, take it off to you. But, of course, you cannot see me and I cannot see you and furthermore, I am not wearing one, so you will just have to make do with the story I have written.

Please enjoy and please hit that review button at the bottom of the page (not now, unless you want to tell me my introductory is too long).

Love always, V.


	2. 1 Reyna

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Sunlight reflected off his blond hair. There was no mistaking it; it was him. Him, who was gone for eight months. Him, who had disappeared without as much as a warning. Him, who was now standing there in an orange t-shirt, 'Camp Half-Blood' emblazoned on the front.

The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer that easily drowned out Octavian's shouting of how this meeting was only the beginning of an unsightly end.

Despite being engulfed in the complete pandemonium of the cohorts, Reyna could not join in with the rest of the legion and celebrate the homecoming of their long-lost praetor, for in that moment where she could not feel anything but utter happiness and relief at his return, she could not help but feel something else inside her rupture; he had come home, but with another girl on his arm.

She stood still, her vision started to blur and all her senses dulled; she could not hear or feel anything except for that small, clean sound of her heart breaking into two.

"Reyna?"

Her deep feelings of hurt dispersed in the split second it took for her to turn to Percy.

"Yes? What is it?" She said sharply.

She knew that he was waiting for her to be the 'strong praetor Reyna' and give some high-authoritative welcoming speech to the Greeks so he could then run to his girlfriend, but her aloof mask must not have been on properly as he, instead, gave her a sympathetic look. She hated that.

"Look, Reyna, I know that I hardly know you," he started.

"You don't." Reyna said dismissively.

She could not deal with a heart-to-heart talk, not from Percy, not before and not now. Especially not now, seeing as her heart was lying on the ground in a thousand pieces. He, however, clearly did not get the message.

"But I remembered Annabeth and that means he could've, no, would've remembered you, too. There's nothing for you to worry abo-"

"You mean there's nothing for _you_ to worry about." Reyna whispered angerily at him for trying to comfort her, and then continued in a much smaller voice. "She did not just come back, after missing for eight months, holding hands with someone else."

Percy started saying something else but Reyna had started walking away. He reached out for her.

"Aren't you going to see him, at least? I mean, not from the distance but really see him and, maybe, say hi? I know that you've been waiting, Reyna. Everyone knows that you've been waiting."

She couldn't even make eye contact with the obviously loved-up son of Poseidon; her mask truly was slipping now and she did not know how much longer she could keep it on. She had to think of something quickly.

"I have other things so do." It was a pathetic excuse, and even she knew that. "You welcome them. You convince the legion of their harmless intentions. Consider this your initiation to praetorship." She did not even bother to wait for his reply before merging into the sea of armour.

She separated from the throng of people as tears began breaking from their barricade that was her lashes and streamed down her face.

* * *

She was at her house now and her armour and toga were carelessly discarded on the ground in her bedroom.

In her rush to get away from him and from _her_ and from everything else, she had not put one thought into how out-of-character she must've seemed.

Reyna sat down heavily onto her bed, undoing her shoes, and sighed as the springs creaked under her weight. Thinking back to what had happened and how she had dealt with it she gave a mental groan; she had just given Octavian years' worth of fuel to fire his campaign against her being praetor, and not to mention reasons for others to believe him.

She then walked over to the vanity and sat down in front of it. She ran her finger down the mirror and cut a clear line through the thin layer of dust settled on it. She sighed again and removed all the remaining dust with the palm of her hand.

Before her days in the legion, Reyna has believed that to neglect one's own appearance was something to be ashamed of, but circumstances have changed and she now believed that to have time for one's own appearance was of great luxury, one she did not have.

_If only past Reyna could she present Reyna now, _She thought bitterly.

Reyna looked at her reflection closely. Even after year of intense training, and abandonment of her looks, she has to admit, to her great discomfort of confessing, that she looked quite well for someone who had gone through what she had.

Her hair, although always kept in a tight braid, was long and smooth, unlike _her, _and as she has grown, the chubbiness in her cheeks had disappeared, revealing sharp, regal facial features, unlike _her_.

What did she lack that the other girl had? No, the question was 'what did the other girl lack that she had?' The answer was dark spots under her eyes from sleepless nights, hollow cheeks from missing meals and walls around her heart so high that she wondered how he even found out she had one in the first place. She also does not have the bright light in her eyes anymore; it had disappeared eight months ago and was yet to return.

What she now saw, when looking into the mirror, was a shell of the person she use to be.

_Things break all the time, Reyna. _She sternly told herself. _Fingernails break, voices break, records breaks, contracts break, silence breaks, promises break. Even hearts break._ She admitted sadly before sitting up straighter. _But you are the daughter of Bellona. You are the praetor of the twelfth legion. You will not crumble. You will triumph. _She stood up, the prep talk in her mind still continuing. _You will attend the senate meeting. _She picked up her toga. _You will continue leading. _She tied it around herself securely. _You will not let Jason Grace know just how much he hurt you. _She picked up her _gladius_ and put it in its sheath. _You will smile and let them wonder why. _She looked into the mirror again and saw the person she pretended to be every day._ Remember; your weakness is your enemy's strength and as a daughter of Bellona, you must stay strong and eliminate all weaknesses._

She nodded, her own voice echoing in her mind.

* * *

_First chapter and already we are already seeing hearts break. Poor Reyna! I really do love her, though._

_So, do you think I gave a good introduction into the complicated labyrinth that is Reyna's mind? I was going for the 'girl under the armour' thing and I think writing in her perspective in this chapter gave me a good opportunity__ to do so. I really wanted to show how she feels, how she deals with the disappointment and exactly what goes through her head when she decides to act in the way she does - is it because of her position as praetor or because of personal pride?_

_Next chapter: Jason will be in the spotlight and how do you think he dealing with returning home? Is he confused? Frustrated? Neither? Or both?_


	3. 2 Jason

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

The senate meeting began without the female praetor and it was agreed that no major decisions would be made until Reyna arrived.

"'Too unfit to control her own emotions, too unfit to control the emotions of New Rome' is what I say!" Octavian said to those in the stands who were listening.

Even after having his memories snatched off him, and even after being away from Octavian for eight long months, within a moment of hearing his voice again, Jason knew that he just had to be the biggest moron to have ever existed.

Octavian pulled out a new teddy bear that was hiding in one of the folds of his toga. Jason only had a moment to admire its beady eyes before it was decapitated and its head was rolling on the ground. He then went on to read it.

"Yes...Hmm...I see..." Octavian nodded his head, feigning intelligence.

"What exactly does he see?" Piper whispered beside him.

Piper. Jason looked around quickly and his face fell when he realised where he was; in a guest chair being made a spectacle of in front of the people he use to lead and beside him was Piper. Not the absent female praetor.

* * *

He had only seen her for a split second before losing her in the sudden eruption of cheers and crowd of gleaming armour. What he saw wasn't even a clear image of her, just her blurry outline. Even so, he knew it was her; the girl who had been evading from his memories, the girl who came to him in his dreams only to be forgotten almost as soon as he woke up, the girl who, apparently, had been waiting for the past eight months for him to come home, the girl who he knew he had hurt once she saw Piper's hands in his.

After his quest with Piper and Leo, Jason remembered things about her. Things, like, her birthday, her friends, or her lack of thereof, and even her sister, Hylla. He could not, however, remember how he felt about this certain Reyna, their private moments or any of that stuff that were supposed to make girls go gooey.

Even so, he knew she was the girl he could not upset for the sake of this quest, but also, deep down, he knew that he cared too much about this mysterious Reyna person to upset her intentionally, anyway.

* * *

"He's the augur; he tells the future by gutting soft toys. Everyone thinks he's a bit of a lunatic." Jason heard Frank answer for him.

Jason mentally thanked him and then cleared his throat and glanced at Percy. Percy had his fingers intertwined with Annabeth's and was not paying any attention to Octavian.

Jason was glad that Percy knew how much of an idiot their augur was to ignore him but still could not help feeling as if he was neglecting his praetor duties.

He spoke up for Percy, "Perhaps we should postpone this senate meeting until tomorrow. I mean, we are not making any progress without Re...Our other praetor." He did not know why he tiptoed around saying her name aloud.

A few murmurs around the room showed that a few people agreed with him but their accord was quickly wiped out.

"You are not longer praetor, Jason, we do not rely on you to make decisions anymore. You neither hold any authority within, nor outside, the walls of the Principia." Octavian confronted.

"Oct-" Percy tried interjecting.

"May I also remind you, Percy Jackson, that you have put your graecus life on the line for them. Best you both tread carefully. You wouldn't want to offend any of us with the words in your mouth, especially when in a room full of Romans, in a Roman building, in the middle if a Roman civilisation." He shot, cutting off Percy.

"Best you shut your mouth, Octavian, before I silence you once and for all." Came a clear voice.

Reyna.

"Apologies for keeping you waiting, I had other business to attend to." She said composedly, making her way to her praetor chair.

Someone scoffed. No doubt it was Octavian.

"By 'business' you mean 'crying my eyes out because the person I waited for, for eight months, finally came back but with a graecus girl'?"

Ouch, to hear the Great Moron say it like that out loud hurt, and Jason could not help but notice Piper squirming in her seat.

She smiled one of her dangerous smiles at him. "No, I meant 'business' as in 'completing some paperwork, overseeing the repairing of the cohorts and just generally leading the legion and New Rome'. You know, business you have never had to deal with."

She then turned to the guests, leaving a fuming Octavian to return to his seat.

"Welcome Greeks, and welcome home, Jason Grace." She said without meeting his eyes.

She had on a smile which was weird as it didn't quite reach her eyes and what was weirder was that he could hardly remember her ever having one on.

She turned back to face the people in the stands and silence passed over everyone, for the meeting had commenced.

* * *

_She really was smiling, and he really was wondering why._

_I tried to subtly give a introduction of the whole surrounding situation without losing sight of the Jason's problems avec les deux filles. You can not only kind of see Jason's dislike of not being a leader again, a riff between the sons of Jupiter and Poseidon and Octavian playing victim to everyone's hate, but also Jason's confusion as to why Reyna seems so important to him, Piper's and Frank's obliviousness to Jason's tough predicament and Reyna trying to cover up her hurt._

_Next chapter: We will see into the mind of miss Piper McLean and, hopefully, the drama will finally begin._


	4. 3 Piper

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

The meeting, although it was exciting to attend one, was quite the opposite of what it had she had thought it to be. It was mostly the Teddy Bear Killer defying everything Percy, Reyna and Jason said, with a quick introduction of each other and a brief on the prophecy so far squeezed in beforehand.

Piper did not speak one word throughout the whole meeting, afraid that she might charmspeak the Romans' augur into slicing himself open with his own blade if she did as much as open her mouth. She didn't mind though; she just observed everyone as carefully and she could while sitting there.

Hazel Levesque, child of Hades, had a mass of curly hair atop of her head. Although she had the posture of a true Roman, it was her eyes that gave her vulnerable self away; they keep darting from Reyna, as if too make sure that she was actually allowed to be there, to straight ahead again, and then if Piper watched very closely, to Leo. She had no idea why Hazel's eyes strayed to him.

_Maybe she likes him. Maybe Leo has finally found a girl who finds his incredibly short height attractive. Not to mention his bad jokes as well. _A mean voice said from the dark corners of her brain.

Piper shooed the mean, Drew-like person away from her subconscious. Leo is her friend. She would never be mean to him.

Frank Zhang, son of Ares from what he had said. He sure didn't look the part with his baby-like face and she thought she saw him carry a bow earlier on. His back was straight and his face was unchanging; exactly how the legion wanted him to be, but Piper knew that he was simply faking this hard exterior. It must've been his friendly aurora that gave him away.

Jason Grace, son of Zeus and Hera's chosen champion. Piper did not know why she was now observing her boyfriend; she practically had had eight months to do so. It must've been that now he was back in New Rome, in a room full of people he knew, she couldn't help but think differently of him. He had suddenly transformed in to a charismatic leader and soldier, not that he wasn't already one before. She somehow knew that he was in his element.

Reyna. The name tasted bitter on the tongue. She was the daughter of the war goddess, Bellona, and the praetor of the legion and New Rome. She was also cold, serious and uptight; everything was straight-to-the-point with her. She took no nonsense from Octavian, and although she avoided making any speeches, you could just hear the sense of authority dripping from every word she did speak. Even just sitting there, she radiated power, confidence and had an air of a real leader about her. She was also stunning; her face belonged on the cover of a magazine, her hair is what shampoo commercial models would die for and she was able to make her unflattering toga seem as if it just came off the runway.

Was Piper envious of this girl? Yes, definitely. Was it because Reyna was beautiful or was it because she was a threat? That question made her think.

The Roman praetor definitely held great beauty but beauty was never something Piper cared about. But what of hers was Reyna threatening?

_Nothing but our relationship with Jason. _The voice in her head said.

Her lips pursed into a thin line. So, maybe her memories with the son of Zeus were nothing but lies, maybe Reyna really did have something going on with Jason before he disappeared, but that was eight months ago. A lot has changed since then.

She sat up straighter and crossed her arms. She had just decided that Jason was hers; not Reyna's, but _hers. _

_Not that he isn't already ours._ Spoke the voice again.

She will keep him by her side, always be there for him. She will love him and he will love her. It was quite simple, really.

_I'm getting a little possessive over here. _She thought nervously to herself.

She had to remind herself that Jason was a person, not an object that she could just label as hers.

_He can be friends with Reyna as long as it's just that; friends._ She thought.

Piper let a small smile form on her lips before closing her eyes and saying a silent prayer to her mother; the goddess of love, Aphrodite.

* * *

_Roman's are so complicated, aren't they? They are always making the effort to appear tough, even when they don't want to or aren't. Am I talking about Reyna? You bet._

_And no, the voice was not evil Gaea. I was trying to show that all Aphrodite girls, even the seemingly good ones, like Piper, can be kind of mean. It's only a matter of shoving the voice into the dark corners of their minds or giving in and listening to it, like Drew must've done, and because Piper's better judgement was clouded by her love for Jason, she let it, with all its jealousy and hatred, take over her._

_Next chapter: Prepare for heartbreak and tears because we will be following the son of Jupiter. But who will the tears belong to?_


	5. 4 Jason

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

"And I thought that the _Circus Maximus_ was an actual circus. Turns out it is just an arena." Leo's voice cut through his thoughts. "Dis-ap-poin-ted!" He said in a sing-song voice.

The meeting had ended. Percy had gone off with Annabeth while Frank and Hazel went on with their usual training routine. Jason was with Piper and Leo, and their tour of New Rome was quickly coming to a close.

Jason hadn't been home for a long time but the beauty of this city was taking a back seat as he continually glanced around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her purple toga

"You've been gone for eight months and suddenly, this place is not good enough for you?" He heard her teasing voice.

His head snapped around. A small smile was playing on her lips and for a moment, the afternoon sunlight reflected off her eyes, turning them into black diamonds.

He couldn't contain his smile at seeing that, after being put in an extremely complicated situation by a certain goddess, she was being normal and completely at ease; the girl he believed he left behind all those months ago.

Jason opened his mouth to say some witty retort when he was cut off.

"That's not true. It's just confusing for him, that's all. I mean, coming back after so long to a place he is only starting to remember is sure to prove difficult, right?." Piper smiled one of her radiant smiles. "Right, Leo?"

Leo did not say anything but continued looking Reyna up and down.

_Oh, no. _Jason thought. _First Khione, now Reyna? This boy definitely has to start choosing girls that don't run the risk of slitting his throat as soon as he confesses his love for them._

"Jason, Leo, we will go to the cafe over there. It looks cosy and I can smell the rich coffee from over here. Reyna, you will go complete some paperwork. We will see you at dinner." Piper said in her sugary, melodious voice.

Jason walked over to the cafe and pulled out a chair for her at a table without complaint.

He was snapped out of her charmspeak by her smooth lips making contact with his.

"Thank you, Jason. You're always so thoughtful. That's why I love you." She sang sweetly.

It had only lasted a second but he knew by Reyna's expression, it had hurt her. Even if that look was quickly replaced by her stony mask again and she had pretended the charmspeak had worked on her.

"Yes, I should go complete some paperwork. I will see you at dinner, then." She turned on her heels and rushed off in the opposite wait to the Via Praetoria; she was headed for the forest on the Berkley Hill which is the place everyone in the legion went to when they wanted to cry without being seen.

Jason got out of his seat.

"Jason? What's wrong?" Piper said worriedly.

"I just...Have to...Look, I'll see you at dinner, OK? Don't worry. I'll catch up with you guys later!" He said before bolting off after Reyna.

He knew it was really rude of him to dash off like that and that he probably hurt Leo, more so Piper, now as well.

* * *

Jason was in the forest and only now did he realise just how big this place was. Finding Reyna was going to be hard but if she was in one of her quiet spots, it wouldn't be difficult for him to track her down.

He was right; she was in one of her quiet spots; a small clearing with trees encircling it, making it barely noticeable from the outside and completely private.

She was bawling her eyes out, but not even the softest sound made its way out of her lips.

It was kind of heart-breaking to watch, not only because the great Reyna seemed defeated and it was all because of him, but because she never utters a sound when she was crying. When you cry, you should be heard and the world should stop. But the world didn't and she was still silently crying.

"Rey," he started, moving closer to her with his arm outstretched.

She wiggled away from him and only wrapped her arms tighter around her knees. He sighed. Even now, when crying into her knees and sitting on the forest floor, the invisible boundary between herself and everyone else was still drawn.

Jason remembered that it didn't matter who she was dealing with, she always maintained a set distance away from others, carefully monitoring them so that they won't get closer. He sighed again and wondered how he first broke into her borders and whether he could do it again.

"Rey," he tried a second time. "Reyna, look, I didn't mea-"

"Don't, Jason. Just don't. I know what you're going to say." She said in a broken voice. "'I'm sorry. It wasn't my fault. I didn't mean for it to happen.' Your words are worthless. They mean nothing and they do nothing. So, don't waste your breath."

She turned so that her back was facing him; a signal for him to leave her but he just continued to sit there, watching the rising and falling of her shoulders and waiting for the sound of a stray sob to escape her lips. But of course, it didn't. So, after a good 20 minutes of just watching her, Jason slowly got up.

"Reyna, I don't know what to say that'll make it better. I don't even think there is anything for me to say that'll make it better. But I know that there must be something I can do to make this right, and I will do it as soon as I just work out what this 'something' is." Jason scratched the back of his head. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm here. I'm here if you need me, even if things have changed recently, I'm still here and I'll be here as long as you need me."

She gave no reply. The heaving of her shoulders stopped, though, but she didn't unfurl herself.

"Look, Reyna, I promised Piper and Leo that I'd meet up with them for dinner. So..."

And her slight trembling resumed.

Jason sighed, yet again.

He got up off the grass and walked away, turning only once for one more look at the broken Reyna.

_Sometimes you are strong, sometimes you are weak. Sometimes you destroy and sometimes you are destroyed. _A wise voice from the inside of Jason's head thought.

The Reyna on the forest floor was a prime example of this and he could not help but feel as if he was the reason she was destroyed.

* * *

_I feel really sorry of Jason; he is just stepping on hearts everywhere he goes._

___Did you get a good glimpse of mean Piper? Did you catch a sight of broken Reyna? Did you notice brainless Jason at the end, too? _I tried to brighten up the atmosphere with Leo, but as this is a Piper-Jason-Reyna orientated situation, he did not get much of a chance. Don't worry, I'll try to fit in more of the crazy Latino elf somewhere along the line. I know I wrote it, but it's slightly weird how, while watching Reyna cry, he suddenly turned into some wise man. But of course, he later did the 'Jason' thing and undid everything by mentioning his girlfriend. C'est la vie.

_Next chapter: Don't get your hopes up; it will be an extremely short one but anticipate it; it will show us Reyna's rawest thoughts._


	6. 5 Reyna

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

It was after sundown when Reyna decided that she'd done enough crying. She stood up on wobbly legs and wiped the tears away.

_Disappointment to the strong is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens us, though painfully, but never destroys. _Hylla's voice came loud and clear in Reyna's mind.

Only now did she understand those words, first spoken to her when Circe's Island, her home, was burnt down, by her sister.

She quickly looked around for a sign of Hylla but, of course, she was not there; she had left almost immediately after the battle as she had to return to the rest of the Amazons. Of course, they talked of how much they had missed each other, but she still could not help but feel as if her closest, and now only, confidante had abandoned her. Maybe, it was better that she had not been there to see Reyna break down; she was sure she'd have made a big deal of it and would've killed Jason and Piper with her bare hands.

Jason. Piper. Jason and Piper. Piper and Jason. She could not get her head around their being together. Even after coming back and regaining most of his memories, he did not come running back into her arms. Instead, he stayed in that girl's arms and held her hand and made googly eyes at her and even kissed her. In _public_.

Reyna kicked at the ground as she walked away from her sanctuary that was her private clearing. She remembered how he used to do things like that with her behind closed doors. So, they didn't kiss or hold hands or anything, but they still had their moments. Moments where he would make her laugh, a rare response from her, compliment her on how she looked, even if she didn't change anything in her daily routine of getting ready. Moments where he would make her forget about her complicated past and make her feel as if she was not some cold statue that people kept their distance from. But they were just moments from the past, not the present.

Reyna could not believe it. Was she really acting like some crazy teenager, fussing over boy-related problems? Was she really allowing some boy to get under her skin and make her cry out in pain? Where was the Reyna from Circe's Island? Where was the fierce warrior Lupa had trained? Why was she allowing this small insignificant matter stop her from running the legion and New Rome to the best of her abilities?

_Because, to you, this is no insignificant matter._ A small voice said in her head.

_Shut up!_ She immediately told it.

She continued walking and kicking at the ground.

_I can't believe I wasted so much of my time. I can't believe I fell for his act. I can't believe I thought that I actually had a chance at a 'happily ever after'._ She scoffed at herself. _I am a daughter of Bellona; a child of war. I do not get a chance at_ _a fairy tale. Prince Charming is only for those who have time to wait, for those who still believe, for those like the children of Venus. I am Reyna, I have people to lead._

Before breaking clear of the forest, Reyna wiped away the last few tears and made a promise to herself.

_Just because he says sweet things to you doesn't mean you should let your guard down. Always protect your heart._

* * *

_I hope Reyna came off as a really headstrong person in this chapter, because I feel as if I haven't emphasised that enough._

_And no again, that voice was not some god or goddess trying to guide her, nor was it Terra putting some evil plan of hers into action. Think of it more as an angel and a devil sitting on her shoulders, whispering in her ear. That one just happened to be the angel, telling her the truth she did not want to admit to herself._

_Next chapter: We will follow Piper as she is confronted by Jason. How do you think she'll take it? Like the usual understanding Piper McLean, the new and meaner daughter of Aphrodite Piper McLean or will it be in between the two?_


	7. 6 Piper

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Piper stood outside the mess hall with Leo, searching of any sign of her missing-in-action boyfriend. He just ran off on her at the cafe to chase after Reyna, no doubt.

"Guys, why don't you sit with us at our table?" Frank asked, motioning to the cramped table at the back of the hall.

_He must've taken pity on us._ Piper thought.

She gave one last look around for Jason before following Leo to cohort five's table.

* * *

Jason finally arrived. He silently walked to where she was sitting with a look that showed something was troubling him greatly.

"Hey," she said, flashing a smile at him.

He looked up to return the gesture half-heartedly. Usually, when she smiled at him, she would feel his affectionate eyes lingering on her for moments after she has turned her attention to something else, but right now, it was him doing the looking away. Something was definitely up.

The female praetor walked in a walked in and immediately sat down at the large and empty table. A plate of pasta was placed in front of her and only when she began eating, did everyone else follow pursuit.

Reyna ate without surveying her surroundings; she did not once join in anyone's conversation nor did she even bother to look up from her plate of food. Watching her, Piper felt sorry for her; she clearly had no close friends and that was due to her cold repute.

The dinner conversation was just what Piper had expected; what's it like at Camp Half-Blood? What exactly happened on your quest? What have you been doing since then? She sat there, next to Jason, and let Annabeth and Leo reply to all the questions.

She watched Jason as he push the food on his plate around until she could no longer stand it. Although it was the first time she has seen him act this way, she knew she hated it. Something about the droop of his shoulders and the sadness in his eyes made her want to embrace him and whisper that everything will be alright softly into his ears.

"Jason, how about we just walk around for a bit? You and I seem like we're pretty much done with our dinners." Piper asked kindly.

He looked up at her with his blue eyes, clouded with melancholy thoughts.

"I guess," he said giving her a small smile.

She rejoiced at the sight of his pearly white teeth. Hopefully, he was already starting to feel better about whatever it was that was bothering him, and hopefully, it was because of her.

* * *

They walked into the cool night air in silence until they reached a little river.

"The Little Tiber is calm tonight." Jason said airily.

"The Little Tiber? Is that what it's called?"

Jason nodded and continued looking at the reflection of the moon on the surface of the water.

He took a deep breath then started speaking.

"Pipes, I don't know how to,"

_Oh, no. _Piper thought.

She knew what was coming next. She had to stop him.

She quickly took a step towards him and kissed him, stopping his words. He didn't push her away and she hoped that that was a sign that it was working.

They stopped after a while, both needing to breathe, but he didn't stopped her from kissing him, and she didn't stop him from saying what he was about to say.

"Piper, look, I have no idea how to say this without sounding selfish or hurting you, but I need some time." He paused, waiting for his words to settle. "I'm just getting my memories back and it seems as though the last pieces are just falling into place and I just need some time to get everything in order and to make sense of the whole picture." He was holding her hand now. "Please understand." He said almost pleadingly.

He kept his eyes on her for a moment, then kissed her knuckles before releasing them and walking away.

She understood his need for some thinking time, she really did. That's why she did not cling onto his arm and beg him to stay with her. Instead she called after his retreating figure.

"Jason?"

He turned around.

"Let me know, OK? Let me know when you've worked it all out."

He smiled at her, showing he agreed, then turned and continued walking.

* * *

She started finding her way back to the Argo II, figuring dinner was probably now over.

Piper smiled to herself.

_Is this what heartbreak feels like?_ She wondered. _No, I don't think so._

And she really didn't because somewhere, deep inside her, she knew that it was not over.

Just because he wanted some space did not mean that he wouldn't realise that she's the one for him. She is the daughter of Aphrodite and as long as it was about the matters of the heart, she was still in the race.

* * *

_The overly confident, to the point of being arrogant, teenage girl or the kind, understanding optimistic? Which one do you think she's playing?_

_Piper, although I've made her out to be a stereotypical Aphrodite girl, I still tried to show that she still has her values; empathy, trust and all that. She does genuinely care for Jason and wants him to make the right choice but I think it's just teenage jealousy that made her kind of mean. Also, I tried to build a bit of depth in her character. I don't think I did a very good job of it if I feel I have to defend her still._

_Next chapter: It's going to be Jason again. And Reyna will be there too. Prepare a tissue box because it will be one heck of a rollercoaster ride that will include fighting, confrontation, some tears and a lot of regret._


	8. 7 Jason

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Jason made his way to his praetor house, knowing that Percy had not moved in.

He thought that he should stop calling it his 'praetor house' because one; he was not praetor anymore and two; it hardly seemed like the house he left behind.

As soon as he walked in, he immediately noticed how meticulously spotless it was, even after eight long months of not being cleaned. He had no dirty dishes in the sink, everything on the shelves was in order and he could actually see the floor of his bedroom.

_Reyna's doing. _He thought to himself as he ran a finger across the dustless kitchen bench. _Definitely Reyna's doing._

* * *

Jason sat on his bed, looking around. It felt weird to be in it again, especially after months of sleeping in the excessively large and cold cabin one at Camp Half-Blood and then days in the confined Argo II.

Jason continued looking around until his eyes zeroed in on a collection of photos on his wall. There were some him and some legionnaires who were surely retired now as he seemed so young in the photos, some of him with his cohort five, some of him with Dakota, Bobby and Gwen and some of him by himself. There was also one of him a Reyna, but it was not hung up on the wall like all the other photos, instead it was propped up on his bedside table. He picked it up to study it better. It must've not been taken long ago, probably just before he did his disappearing act, because apart from the length of their hair they looked the same, they were also both smiling widely in it.

He couldn't help but admire Reyna; she looked so happy in the photograph. Just a smile had transformed her from her usual detached self to a thing of true beauty.

"_Vos scitis quid, Aurum et Argentum? Desiderium tamen, etaim si reverterentur_."

Jason peered out the window, looking for the source of the voice, and into the courtyard connecting Reyna's and his house. There she was, the girl in the photo he was holding, standing in the middle of the yard talking to their gold and silver automation dogs. He heard her sigh as the dogs gave no response. She looked up to the moon instead.

"It happens to everyone, I guess. They grow up, find out who they really are, what they really want and then realise that the people they've know forever don't see things the way they do anymore. So, they find themselves moving on." She paused before continuing in a broken voice. "Is that what he's doing? Moving on? Is he leaving me behind, going off somewhere else while I stay behind wondering what I did wrong? Just like Hylla did? Is he going to abandon me, too?"

Although her conversation was with the unresponsive moon, her voice still carried in the night breeze to Jason for him to hear.

_The moon does not just create waves and make plants grow upright, it also is a friend for the lonesome to talk to._ Jason though wisely.

He made his way as quietly as he could to the courtyard, hoping he could clearly catch what she was going to say next.

* * *

He was finally standing on the soft grass, a few metres behind her, but she was saying nothing at all. She simply continued staring upwards towards the star-littered sky and watched, with sad eyes, as they twinkled. Jason looked up as well. Tonight, the moon was almost a full moon, only a part of it was casted into shadow. He looked back at Reyna. She was just the like moon in the way that part of her was always hidden away from his view.

Jason sighed, giving himself away. Reyna didn't snap her head towards him and throw her dagger at him, though. Instead, she, too, sighed and motioned him to come closer without turning to face him.

"I'm guessing you heard what I had just said." She said calmly.

He didn't see the point in lying to her, "Yeah, I did."

There was a moment of silence between them that was only interrupted by the return of _Aurum_ and _Argentum_. They came barking happily, unaware of the tension between Reyna and himself. They jumped on Jason.

"Hey, guys. Missed me, did you?"

They barked a response before tackling him again.

'I guess I deserve that for leaving you guys for so long." Jason chuckled.

That line must've struck a chord in Reyna because she was suddenly ordering her faithful companions to leave them.

"_Aurum_, _Argentum_, _relinquo_!"

They whined but she gave them a stern look and they ambled off to Jason's house.

Jason was only getting up from the ground when he was knocked down again. Only this time by Reyna.

She was holding her _gladius_ to his throat and her face was a mixture of anger, sadness and even a hint of happiness.

"Hello, Jason." She said in a low voice. "Nice of you to join us again, after eight long months."

Jason scrambled up and pulled out his own dagger.

She lunged at him and he only just dodged her deadly attack. He sparred with her for a while, playing defensive as he didn't want to even try hurting her, but after what felt like hours, he began to tire. Reyna was still at it, though. Sweat was glistening from her forehead but she was not slowing down. There was also a look of malice in her eyes.

She quickly manoeuvred to whatever side he was not protecting enough and jabbed her weapon at his unarmoured body. He had hastily countered a strike from her but she had already withdrawn and was now cutting into his upper arm. Jason had had enough; he didn't want to fight her.

He quickly swiped at her, a Greek move, instead of stabbed which threw her off her course. As she stumbled back to dodge his sudden attack, he hooked the hilt of her knife with the pointy end of his and twisted his wrist which made her weapon clatter to the ground; unarming her. Jason stood there panting, watching her carefully to make sure she was not about to go at him with her bare hands. She stood there, staring at her weapon on the grass.

"That's the first time you've ever beaten me." She said.

Although he would've celebrated greatly any other time, Jason was too out of breath to even care right now.

"You should probably get that cleaned up." She said, pointing to the cut on his arm before turning to walk back to her house.

In a matter of minutes, she went from sad Reyna to angry Reyna to caring Reyna. Jason couldn't comprehend her behaviour. Even before getting his memories removed, he didn't think he knew how she worked, despite knowing her for four years.

"You know, sometimes, I just don't get you, Reyna."

Oops, did he just say that out loud? He was just making a death wish, now.

She stopped walking and but didn't even glance at him. She just carried on facing the back of her house.

"So, when did you ever 'get me', Grace?" She allowed him a split second to think. "That's the whole point; you never did." She walked up the steps to her porch.

He knew he should've just left it at that, but the winning part of him couldn't let it go. He ran to catch her arm.

"Why are you always like this? Why are you always pushing people, pushing me, away? Just once, can't you just stop being so cold and let me in? I'm trying the hardest I can, Reyna, but your walls are made out of brick and are 20 feet high and I'm finding it impossible to get over them." Jason could feel his temper rising. "You've never had a bad break up before, and don't count me because I'm not even sure if we were ever dating, so you don't even have the right to put up these walls."

Jason had even more to say but he was suddenly cut off by the girl he was talking to.

"You're right." She said steadily. "I've never had a bad break up before. I have no right to put up these walls, right? But I have seen it happen to other people. I've seen the strongest people in the world become weak for love and I refuse to be that girl. I will not let it happen to me. I will never fall in love!" Her voice was growing louder and louder. "And as for 'cold'? You don't get to call me cold. Months ago, I thought I had finally found someone, someone who could put up with me and see past my exterior. So, all the obvious issues with my past, who cared? I was done with that. But then that person disappeared. That person left me alone with all the praetor duties and with myself. He came back though, just with another girl." Her voice was losing its volume. "You left me. You chose her. I'm just gluing myself back together now and I make no apologies for how I choose to repair the damage you've done. So, you _don't_ get to call me cold."

She pulled her wrist out of his grasp but he made a grab for it again. He expected a yelling match but all he got was 'broken Reyna' again. Tears were building up in her eyes as she looked up at him.

"Jason, don't hold onto me. Please, don't make this any harder than it already is. I've already let you go."

"Re-"

"Just be with her. Be happy with her. I'm fine being cold by myself." She said with a laugh at her own miserable joke.

He wanted to say something more but she looked at his face with such sad eyes and he found himself doing as she asked. She entered her house and slammed the door, leaving a taken aback Jason standing on her veranda.

* * *

He sat up in his bed, back in his house with _Aurum_ and _Agentum_ lying at the foot of his bed, taking in everything she had said. Before he turned off the light to go to sleep, he looked outside of his own window and at her window. The light was off. The windows were shut. The curtains were drawn. Jason looked at his dogs then back at her window.

"Why don't you guys keep her company for tonight? I think she needs it more than I do." He said to them.

They seemed to understand him because they walked out of his room, allowing him to pat them as they walked past, and made their way out of his house and into her villa.

Jason sat laid back down in his bed and mentally slapped himself. Why didn't he just let it go? All he wanted was to see the real Reyna and he did. Only the real Reyna wasn't what he had expected. She was broken and vulnerable, so unlike the one she usually put on display.

_No wonder she always kept that Reyna hidden away. She'd stand no chance in front of a crowd of Romans._ Jason though.

He looked over at the clock on his bedside table, his eyes flickered to the photograph of the smiling Reyna, and he sighed. It was almost midnight but he knew that tonight was one of those sleepless nights. Instead of trying to fall asleep, he let his mind wander. He lingered around the thought of how they use to stay up late, talking for hours, not caring that they had to get up early the next day. Now it seemed that every time they did talk, it ends up with one crying and the other frustrated with themself.

* * *

_Translations (google translate):_

_Vos scitis quid, Aurum et Argentum? Desiderium tamen, etaim si reverterentur. - You know what Aurum and Argentum? I still miss him, even if he is back._

_Aurum, Argentum, relinquo! - Aurum, Argentum, leave!_

_My longest and most emotional chapter yet. It was really exhausting to write as well._

_Poor, poor Jason. By trying to clear up the mess, he only make it worst. Firstly, he broke it off with Piper and now he has ruined his chances with Reyna. Things are not looking good for our Jason. Do you think I've over done both characters? I was trying to get them to finally say what they think instead of keeping it bottled up._

_Next chapter: We'll be checking in on the daughter of Bellona. OK, I admit it; it's a bit of a filler and so is excruciatingly short. _


	9. 8A Reyna

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Reyna woke up the next morning at the same time as she would any other morning; half past six.

She looked in the mirror, after her shower, and only sighed when she saw how much darker the circles under her eyes were today. She doubted anyone would notice, though, as they had grown use to seeing them there every day for nearly the past year.

* * *

She got changed and made her way to the kitchen.

She fed the dogs some machinery oil and grabbed a handful of cornflakes to eat on her way to the morning muster.

* * *

She waited for the dogs to leave before shutting the door behind her. _Aurum_ and _Argentum_ ran and she called after them until she saw who they ran to; Jason. Reyna continued locking her door before nonchalantly making her way to through the cohorts to rally the legionnaires for muster.

She could feel Jason awkwardly walking beside her but she did her best to ignore his presence. Of course, he didn't do the same.

"Reyna, about last night, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. It was out of line for me to say those things to you. I hurt you, I know. So, I guess I should've seen you yelling at me coming."

He apologised but she still was ignoring him.  
'Reyna?" He asked. "Rey?"

She couldn't stand him anymore.

"Look, muster's about to start, so go get your friends from the Argo II and make sure Percy's not late. He's in cohort five's cabin. Now, don't you be late or it's cleaning the stables for the rest of the week."

He looked as if he wanted to say something more but thought better of it. He stood taller, just like any other legionnaire would when speaking to their praetor, and then marched off in the direction of the Argo II.

Reyna sighed as she watched him stride off. No matter what feelings she had for him now, whether it'd be love or hate, it felt strange not to be equals anymore.

* * *

_We can always rely on Reyna to keep calm and carry on, no matter what she might be feeling._

_This chapter just shows what her number one priority is; the well-being of the legion and New Rome. Although it's a good thing that they are, don't you, too, feel as if she should sometimes just take a step back and think about what she wants to do? I'm frustrated at this and I'm not even her. May the last paragraph be her emotions straying? You tell me._

_Next chapter: A heart-to-heart between the two quest leaders; Jason and Percy. Will his cousin make him see the way?_


	10. 9 Jason

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Jason plopped onto Dakota's bunk in cohort five. It wasn't his old one, as that now belonged to another legionnaire, but laying on it still made him nostalgic of the days when he wasn't praetor yet and didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn, only to read the terms and conditions of everything he had to sign.

Nostalgia. Jason hated the lingering feeling of it, yet he had put up with it for the past eight months, and still did.

Jason laid there and, with the more time spent thinking of that feeling, the more tension built up in him. His whole body was now rigid with tension and he suddenly began thrashing around Dakota's clumsily made bed, as if that would make it go away. He once stopped after he felt better from his violent episode only to find Percy looking at him weirdly.

"Um...Reyna wants you to know that you now have stable duty for a week because you missed today's morning muster. She also mentioned something about wanting to run you through with a sword."

Jason let out a groan and flopped back on the bed. Then he rolled over to his side to face Percy, who was now sitting on the bed adjacent to Dakota's.

There was an awkward pause before Percy decided to speak again.

"So, Reyna...She's pretty tough isn't she? And that's coming from me and I've only been here for about a week, and that counts the time I was on my quest, too."

Jason didn't know why he felt the need to defend her, but drew on what little memory he had of the girl in question, before speaking, anyhow. "She's not always like that, at least from what I can remember. She is the daughter of Bellona, so I guess that she's always been serious, but I don't think that's why she's as closed off as she is now."

Jason pondered it for a moment. He was remembering something big and the thought was almost within his grasp but it, like almost every other memory of Reyna, dissipated into the depths of his mind again.

He frustratingly shook his head. "It was probably something terrible that forced her to grow up so quickly. Something _really _terrible."

Percy, who apparently had been holding in his breath, exhaled before quickly changing the focus of their conversation.

"So, what exactly is going on with you and Piper," he begun, and after a quick thought added "and Reyna, at the moment?"

Jason let out another groan and rolled onto his other side so that his back was now facing Percy.

"I told Piper that I needed some time."

"And Reyna?"

"I don't even have a clue. Like I said, she's closed off at the moment. It must be some defence mechanism against me."

"A defence mechanism? Why would she need one against you?"

Jason pulled Dakota's pillow out from under his head and held it close to his chest, muffling his reply.

"There's a good chance that I might have kind of have said some things I probably shouldn't have said which made her say some things she probably wasn't going to say which turned out to be some things I probably didn't want to hear."

""Probably", Jason?"

"Fine, 'definitely.'".

There was an awkward silence that followed and although he did not say it aloud, Jason knew Percy wanted to know exactly what he had said to Reyna last night. Jason sighed and turned over to face Percy.

"No judging, OK?"

"OK."

He took another breath before saying in one go "I told Reyna that she was cold and that she had no right to build walls around herself and that she shouldn't be heartbroken because of me because we were never together before, anyway."

Percy gave a low whistle. "Wow, you've screwed up. It's a miracle how you're still alive with all your limbs."

Jason scowled. "No judging!"

Percy threw his hands up. "I'm totally not judging. Nope, no judgements being made here."

Jason could not help rolling his eyes at him, Percy was such a bad liar.

"Look, Jason, I'm probably the last person you should take girl advice from,"

"But, you have Annabeth." Jason interjected.

"Yeah, but I don't know how I managed it; she's way out of my league."

And to that, they both nodded.

"But," Percy continued, "I think you just need to give her time to cool off some steam and mend because under all that shiny armour, she's just a teenager girl with the responsibilities of a whole civilisation balancing on her shoulders. Just, maybe, distance yourself from her for a while."

Jason fell back again onto Dakota's bed. "She said something along those lines to me, too. She told me to forget about her and just be with Piper but, I don't know..." Jason looked up the plain wood ceiling of the cabin. "I just have a feeling somewhere inside that tells me Piper and I aren't going to work out. It's just a feeling somewhere inside that holds me back from really loving her and I don't think that's fair on Pipes. She's a really awesome girl who deserves a guy's whole heart, you know?" Jason glanced over at Percy before sadly saying. "And I don't think I'm that guy."

Jason propped himself on an elbow, now, and saw that Percy was considering his being together with Piper.

"Piper is nice from what I can tell. Annabeth likes her a lot more than she likes Reyna," Percy quickly looked over at Jason before hastily adding "her reasons being, and I quote, "She always has that familiar smile on her face. Everything's nice when you're with her. She's a true beauty and is consistent. You always know what's going on in her head; it's not a guessing game with her."" Percy put his hands up as if surrendering. "Hey, but I think Reyna's cool. She's complex and has that real drive. In a lot of ways, she's like Annabeth."

Jason arched an eyebrow at his newly-appointed relationship counsellor.

"_Like_ Annabeth. _Not_ Annabeth." Percy firmly stated.

Annabeth's description of Piper, as recited by Percy, floated around Jason's head. Everything mentioned was what Jason liked about Piper, too; her warmth; her effortlessness and even her underrated beauty. But even when thinking of reasons why he likes Piper, Reyna kept floating into his thoughts.

"But that's not what I want." Jason said absentmindedly, more to himself than to Percy "I don't want absolute perfection. I want flaws. I want to see them half smile, them going from laughter to seriousness and them biting their lips while lost in thought. I want secrets. I want to know why they choose that moment to glance around, why they sometimes walk with their head slightly turned down and why they prevent themselves from saying what's on their minds instead of just letting themself go. It may be weird but I find these things..." He paused, looking for the right word. "Beautiful."

"Well, I've got some stuff I have to take care of before the day ends." Percy abruptly said as he got up and walked to the doorway, snapping Jason from his thoughts.

_Great, I've made him uncomfortable and now he's leaving. _Jason thought.

Percy stopped and leaned against the doorframe, rubbing his chin, before thoughtfully saying "I guess if you saw parts of a person no one else gets to see, you could fall in love with them. Like, if you just followed them around invisibly for a day and you just saw them as they were, even if they were really weird and had no friends or were vicious killing machines, you wouldn't be able to help falling in love with them."

Percy gave Jason a small smile, as if in encouragement, and then left him alone in the cabin to mull over everything said in the past quarter of an hour.

Whilst thinking of his unexpectedly good talk with Percy again, Reyna stopped floating in and out of his thoughts. Instead, she now stayed there, being a clear image in his mind.

He came to a conclusion but it was not one he was going to easily accept, or she was going to easily accept.

_Love. _He thought. _That's the feeling I have towards her. I love her, as simple as that. It was love at first sight, love at last sight and love at ever sight._

* * *

_Percy is such and awkward dork but, I guess that's why he's so likeable._

_It was incredibly hard to write this chapter, mostly because the balance between my need for some humour and casualness, and my ability to make this serious and useful to the story is so easily disrupted. I hope I didn't disappoint!_

_Next chapter: So, Jason had finally made up his mind and, now, only has to tell the girls. Piper's up first and how do you think she'll take it? Also, you can expect to see some Leo in the next scene._

_P.S. I'm sorry for posting this a day late but you know what yesterday was, right? The second of October a.k.a. The day the MoA officially came out. Oh, my Jeyna fangirl heart - broken and lying on the floor! Please understand that it was a very tough day for me, although I'm handling it better than I thought I would. I hope you haven't let RR sink our ship and remember to stay positive!_


	11. 10 Piper

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

"Piper, wait up!"

She turned around to see none other than Jason Grace running after her. She couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, where have you been all day? I was looking for you before, but you were so well hidden that I gave up and hung out with Leo instead." She laughed.

"I was in my old cabin. I felt like a rest but my house is just too freakishly clean, thanks to Reyna, for doing just that."

"You could've slept in your bed on the Argo II, you know."

He shrugged and they continued walking in a comfortable silence before he spoke up again.

"I've been really thinking about everything that's happened lately; our quest, the prophecy, being back at Camp Jupiter," and after a pause he added "and us."

Jason stopped them, they were now halfway between the camp and New Rome with no one insight. Piper's breath hitched and a glimmer of hope shone within her.

He paused for a moment, as if to figure out the best way to say what's on his mind.

"Pipes, I'm going to be honest and forgive me if it hurts you, but I don't think we're going to work out." He said in one breath before continuing more slowly. "It's just that the last puzzle pieces are falling into place and it looks as if Reyna's a bigger part of the whole picture than I first thought." He said awkwardly. "I think that once I've regained all of my memories, I just won't love you the same way anymore. It wouldn't be fair if I led you on only to push you off a cliff." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess I'm already guilty for doing that to you."

Piper didn't say anything. Since the moment he told her he needed space, she had braced herself but she still felt totally unprepared for it. She was shocked, not because Jason just officially broke it off with her, but because her mother chose for this to happen. Her mother, the almighty goddess of love and beauty, had chosen the happiness of some standoffish stranger over her own daughter's.

In the moments following Jason's shock confrontation, Piper mulled over this thought. Her mother didn't want her with him. She did not give her Jason; the boy of her dreams, the boy in her heart.

"Piper? Say something, please." He said in an anxious voice.

She looked up at him. She took in his light tan, his golden blond hair, his bluer-than-blue eyes and his small scar above his lip, which only made him appear cuter. He was perfection personified.

She let out a long sigh. He was all she wanted and she couldn't have him, her mother wasn't allowing it to happen.

"This was how it's supposed to be." She said despondently. "The Fates have made it this way. My mother had made it this way. We may have been perfect together but if we were supposed to be together, this wouldn't be happening." Piper said with a small, sad smile that Jason returned. She looked up at the sky, which looked just like his eyes, and at the white fluffy clouds and the flock of birds flying over ahead. "Maybe, this is not the end. Maybe, one day you'll wake up and realised that you've made a massive mistake and then we'll be together. But until that happens, _if_ that happens, I have to accept reality." She said wisely.

"I don't know what to say, Piper. Ma-"

She cut the son of Jupiter off. "There's nothing to say, there's nothing to do. Even if I'm kind of hurt on the inside right now, I'm happy that you're happy." She gave him a shining smile, and hope that there were no tears in her eyes.

Just as he had realised that she wasn't for him, she realised that he probably wasn't for her either, although she still liked him.

"Just to let you know, although I'm a proud daughter of Aphrodite, I'm not some silly romantic. I don't want to be showered with roses and diamonds. I want a kind soul, a steady hand and even if I found that in you, you're not for me because I want to love and be loved, and that's where our relationship is flawed. You don't love me the same way anymore and I want to fall asleep and wake up knowing that my heart is safe." She said carefully.

She reached for his hand and just held it there in hers for a moment. They were warm and they fit perfectly in hers. She couldn't help but smile a little more to herself at this thought.

She leaned in to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Jason, for everything."

She gave his familiar hands one last squeeze before letting go and walking away, towards New Rome. She did not look back, and instead let a few stray tears fall down her face. She did not let the possibility of being seen crying make her wipe away her tears because, being a child of love, she knew that real weakness was to leave your true feelings unacknowledged.

Her thoughts lingered over the boy who had just broken her heart but she could not hate for doing so.

_Jason, _she thought. _I hope, for your sake, that she is not weak. I hope, for your sake, that you find true happiness with her. I also hope, for my sake, that I can do the same someday._

* * *

"Hey, Beauty Queen. Where have you been for the past hour?" A smiling Leo said.

She was in the heart of New Rome now and almost all signs of crying were gone.

"Oh you know, just making some life decisions. Normal, everyday stuff like that." She said casually, hoping her friend didn't catch the note of sadness in her voice.

"Well, how would you like to make another life decision?" He asked, not taking any notice.

Piper raised an eyebrow, a tiny smile creeping into her lips.

"So what will it be? Cookies and cream or triple chocolate?" Leo said in a posh voice, offering his arm out to her.

She laughed a genuine laugh when she realised he was talking about ice-cream flavours and linked arms with him.

"Oh, I don't know, it's too hard to decide. Is there a third option?" Piper asked, faking serious contemplation.

"Yes, there is, mademoiselle. It's a burger at the corner joint where they can make tofu patties actually taste decent."

Piper was going for a pout but instead, her smile widened. "Well, lead the way, good sir. I feel like eating some anti-dieting food today."

Leo escorted Piper to the fast-food restaurant. It was nice to know that no matter what might change in her life, Leo's happy self would always be a constant.

"May I also compliment you on how fine you look today, Beauty Queen?" He said, opening the door for her.

"Fine? Today? Leo, I haven't even done anything differently this morning." She replied.

He gave her a cheeky wink which she could not help but return with a small, silly laugh.

* * *

_Did I just imply some Liper? Not even I know the answer to that._

_You know, I began writing this chapter determined to make Piper turn into a Drew-clone, just like I tried to do at the start, but I thought against that as I went on because I felt that too much drama in one story will kill it. Did I make the right decision? Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep that Piper stored in my brain for possible future uses._

_Next chapter: It will be in Jason's point of view. Expect another long, emotionally exhausting but not-so-much-dramatic-as-much-as-it-is-fluffy chapter. Seriously, there will be so much Jeyna that you'll be set for life._

_P.S. So, now that MoA has been released, the long wait for the next book, The House of Hades, begins. I hope that we'll see some Jeyna in there, even if it's not Jason confessing his love for her, I'd like to see at least some interaction between the two because I'm getting zero in MoA. Still, it's a brilliant book, so far!_


	12. 11 Jason

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

He was standing outside of her house now. She did not show up for dinner and after putting up with Octavian's going on about her incompetency as leader for an hour, he decided to check up on her. Jason knew, after the events of last night, that he shouldn't, for his own safety, be venturing into Reyna's house alone, but he thought that by doing it now he could kill two birds with one stone.

He took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

The inside of her house silent and if it were not for the light of the setting sun, it'd be dark, too.

He heard whining and felt something rubbing against his shin. It was _Aurum_. He leaned over to pat the dog.

"Heus,_ puer. Exspectabam Reyna. Scisne ubi est?_"

The automaton pointed its shining, gold muzzle towards the direction of her bedroom.

_Of course. _Jason thought.

"_Gratias, Aurum. Argentum est in atrium. Tecum ludere possint, si placet._"

The dog stayed by Jason's side for a moment longer before making its way toward the back door as Jason made his way to her room.

Jason gave a small knock on Reyna's bedroom door before opening it ever so slightly.

"Reyna?"

There was no response. He widened the gap of the door and peered in.

She was asleep in a tangle of blankets and pillows with her hair down, in grey shorts and, what looked to be, an old t-shirt of his.

_So, she's the reason I couldn't find some of my clothes. _Jason thought, smiling to himself.

He let himself in and made his way over to her bed before slowly sitting down on it.

"Rey? It's me, Jason." He whispered softly.

She shifted and repeated in a mumble "Jason."

"Come on, it's time to wake up."

He couldn't help but feel guilty for waking her up. She looked so peaceful asleep and he knew very well that she hardly ever got time to rest as praetor.

She moved again, this time so he could see her face clearly. She had her eyes closed and her eyelashes casted fine shadows across the curve of her cheekbone. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and, if her eyes weren't closed, the movement she made would've been counted as a wink.

After just watching her doze for a while, he gave into temptation and gently ran his fingers across her soft lips. If there were ever a time he had kissed them, he remembered for in that moment, all the memories of her, which he had previously been deprived of, returned in to him in a rush.

* * *

He felt the weight of her head resting on his arm, as they lay on the grass in the courtyard at night, pointing out constellations to each other. He felt his cheeks going redder as she gave him a congratulatory kiss there, after being raised on the shield, while standing in the empty Principia. He felt the smoothness of her lips as he gave them both their first proper kiss, in their praetor uniforms on Temple Hill. He felt her warmth as he encircled her waist with his arms behind the cabins when they both should've been calling lights-out. He felt the pressure of her lips on his, as they stood on her doorstep, wishing each other 'goodnight' after he had promised her forever.

* * *

Many more feelings and moments of them being together came rushing back to him in a matter of seconds as if they were water, and someone had opened the floodgates of the Hoover Dam.

He was so overwhelmed and must've shocked Reyna because she suddenly shot up, pulling him out of his montage of memories.

"Jason!" She said is alarm. Her eyes widened before she repeated it again but in an angrier voice. "Jason! What in the name of all the gods on Olympus are you doing here, in my room?"

She looked down at herself a must realised who's shirt she was wearing because she hastily took it off and flung it onto the ground, revealing a white singlet underneath.

He ignored her question. "I think I've just gotten all my memories back."

"I don't care if ther- Wait, what?" She said.

"I saw everything, felt everything. I was there and so were you; the memories were of us."

She did not say anything. Instead, she quietly observed him as if she was holding back something she wanted to say, but that look quickly disappeared.

"That still doesn't answer my question." She said sternly.

He looked at her in disbelief. She had her arms crossed and was unsmiling.

"I just suddenly remembered everything and all you want to know is why I'm here? You're just avoiding talking about it."

"Well, when you are electrocuted awake and you find that there's a boy sitting on your bed, you'd like to know the reason for it." She huffed.

"Fine," He gave in. "You weren't at dinner so I did the decent thing and went to check on you."

"I missed out on evening muster and dinner? Oh, no! What will Octavian say?" She exclaimed, leaping out of bed and searching for a purple toga on the ground.

Her act about caring about not completing praetorian duties was plausible but her caring for what Octavian thought was just too dramatic and made the whole thing seem unreal.

Reyna found her toga and expertly put it on herself as she made her was to the door. He wasn't going to let her leave so quickly, especially after he had plucked up the courage to come talk to her.

He managed to grab her by the wrist before she could reach for the doorknob. She didn't fight him off, not even send a death threat towards him. Instead, she let out a sigh and looked up at him.

"I _am_ avoiding talking about it, OK? Now, please, just let me win." She said tiredly.

This was so unlike her, so unlike any Roman, to ask him to spare her.

"Avoiding talking about what?" He knew the answer and knew that he shouldn't test her limits but he just wanted to hear her say it.

She took his bait. "About us."

She looked so defeated, as if this whole love-triangle ordeal has physically worn her down.

He pulled her back to her bed, where they both sat down and she didn't protest.

"Jason, I can't. I can't bring myself to talk about it because that means admitting that I'm..." She trailed off. "But I guess I already am..."

Jason let go of his grasp on her to put a lock of hair behind her ear. His touch must've given her courage to finish voicing whatever thought occupied her mind because she continued talking without him coaxing her.

"I don't keep this isolated façade up all the time, you know." She said barely audibly. "Sometimes, the walls around me just come crumbling down and it doesn't happen very often but when it does, it happens without warning and all at once. Before I even realise what's going on, there I am; just standing there, totally exposed, totally defenceless and totally confused."

She looked up at him with teary eyes and Jason knew that she was having one of _those_ moments right now.

He inched closer, close enough to wrap his arms around her.

She whispered "I'm afraid, Jason. I'm afraid that my heart will get broken again. I'm afraid that it'll hurt even more than the last time. I'm afraid that maybe this time, my heart won't heal and it'll stay broken forever and then I'll be hurt forever."

Jason didn't know exactly what to say because 'weak Reyna' was not something he had ever had to deal with, and so, he pulled her even closer to him to avoid speaking and screwing their already-fragile relationship up. He could felt her head leaning on his chest. She started crying and he felt the trembling of her body.

"You don't have to be afraid of that, Reyna. I promise you, I won't let that happen and unlike the promise I made before disappearing, I'll keep this one."

She didn't lift her head but carried on crying softly, tears soaking his shirt.

When they are crying because of something you did, it is probably not the right time to drop the four-letter word on them, but Jason was done with 'probables' and went with his gut feeling, ignoring the sacred rule he learnt from watching romantic comedies and chick flicks in New Rome.

The leads in the romantic comedies and chick flicks he had watched in the New Rome cinema had taught him to never drop the four-letter word on a crying and emotionally unprepared person as it usually turned the movie into a drama but that moment, with a crying and emotionally unprepared person in his arms, felt, somehow, right.

"I love you, Reyna." Jason tried to quickly muster all the clichés he's learnt from those movies and put them into words, but found that he didn't need any help as the words tumbled out of his mouth on their own. "I love you more than I love bows on presents, sprinkles on ice-cream and glitter in kaleidoscopes. I love you more than the way foreign words sound, how snowflakes look under the microscope and being the first to spot a rainbow after rain. I love you because you're better than the feeling I get when I did something I first thought was impossible, and if I had to choose between you and a having dessert, I'd choose you. I love you, Reyna. More than you know and you'll never catch up to where I am because my heart is racing at the speed of light."

She slowed her crying and was now looking up at him, hiccuping.

"Says who?"

"Says the laws of physics. There's nothing faster than the speed of light."

She gave an uneasy laugh. "Well, according to the laws of biology and all things relating to the human body, you should be on the floor having a serious heart attack, right now."

Jason chuckled and kissed the top her head. Her not pushing him away let him know that it was safe for him to do so and he was glad that the Reyna he knew was back.

"Maybe I am having a heart attack at the moment, but I just don't know it. I have to say, if this is it, I don't know what people complain about; it's quite a nice feeling."

She gave him another small laugh and then there was just a peaceful silence none of them tried to fill.

When her brething had slowed down so much and when he had though she's fallen asleep with her head on his chest, she broke the silence.

"Jason, when did you know that this was 'love'?" She asked delicately.

He thought about it for a while but didn't have a straight answer to that question.

"I don't know. There hadn't been one specific moment. It was just something that took years and many tries."

She nodded at his words but he didn't fell satisfied with that answer and so added "There's no mistaking it though. There's no mistaking that this is 'love'. All our moments, all our arguments, that's just part of it. I'm sure of it."

She seemed even more content with that answer and moved closer towards him. He wrapped his arms even tighter around her.

* * *

The sun was well and truly set now. Legionnaires had probably retired to their cabins and the streets of New Rome were probably almost empty by now.

Reyna had fallen asleep in his arms and all that could be heard was her rhythmic breathing. _Aurum_ and _Argentum_ had come back from playing and were now curled up at the end of Reyna's bed, their ruby eyes were closed as well.

Jason untangled himself from her and gently rested her head on her pillow. He pulled her blanket over her and, once again, tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before kissing her softly on the cheek.

Jason stayed for a bit longer to admire her serenity. She was so fierce when awake but right now, sleeping, she was like a small child; curled up and naive to whatever lies ahead for tomorrow.

_Good night, Reyna. _He thought, walking to the door.

And as if she could hear his thoughts, she mumbled back softly "Sweet dreams."

* * *

_Translations (Google Translate):_

_Heus,__ puer. Exspectabam Reyna. Scisne ubi est? - Hey boy. I was looking for Reyna. Do you where she is?_

_____Gratias, Aurum. Argentum est in atrium. Tecum ludere possint, si placet. - Thanks, Aurum. Argentum is in the courtyard. You can play with her, if you want._  


_So, Jason watches rom-coms and chick flicks. Who knew?_

_This chapter was incredibly touchy and, again, we got to see Reyna through Jason's eyes and she looked vulnerable and kind of beautiful - not the 'fierce beautiful' everyone sees, but the 'young-girl beautiful' we didn't even know she was capable of being. If you were wondering, the thing about her wearing Jason's shirt was not because she slept with him and borrowed it and never returned it, or anything like that. It was because he was gone for so long and she wanted something familiar of his and took his shirt and still continued to wear it, even after he returned, because she didn't feel as if he had come back. Jason was smiling when he saw this because it was nice and kind of cute to see she had missed him enough to start wearing his clothes._

_Next chapter: How can we not flip over to Reyna after this chapter? Also, Hylla drops by! Can we expect a showdown between the two daughters of Bellona? I don't know but I can assure you that there will be no cowboy boots and if there were, Reyna would be - as Ted Mosby put it - pulling. them. off._


	13. 12 Reyna

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Her alarm went off; it was half past six. She threw her legs over the side of her bed and looked out the window. She knew that he was still asleep because all the lights in his house were off and the curtains were undrawn.

She continued watching as the morning sun slowly crept up over the roof of his house.

_Was last night just dream? _She wondered.

Reyna remembered falling asleep on her bed after hours of filling out papers and filing documents in the Principia but was wary of anything else she remembered.

She surveyed her surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place, as far as she could tell.

She let out a sigh. _It was just a dream, then._

_Aurum and Argentum weren't there last night. _She thought when she saw them at the foot of her bed. _It was definitely just a dream, then._

She continued looking around, desperate to find something, anything to prove that it hadn't all been in her head. She stopped when her eyes caught that 'something'. It was his shirt lying in a heap on her bedroom floor. She smiled, just a bit, and got up to walk to the bathroom.

She did her normal routine of getting ready; shower, brush her teeth, comb and braid her hair, put on her Praetor uniform, feed her dogs some mechanical oil and grab a handful of cornflakes for herself.

Reyna was putting the cereal box back in its place when she heard his voice and felt his lips on her cheek.

"Morning."

She froze.

_Oh no._ She thought to herself. _Oh no, no, no._

She was so happy about last night not being a figment of her imagination that she had forgot about what happens afterwards She was no good at this. She had no idea what to do or how to act. She could lead a legion into battle but was completely rubbish at this new idea of dating.

She shoved half a handful of cornflakes into her mouth to buy herself some time. She chewed loudly and slowly before consuming the other half of her breakfast.

"Is everything alright, Reyna?" Jason asked, worriedly. "You're kind of...acting weirdly."

She turned to face him, leaning on the kitchen bench, as her mind frantically worked out how to act normal again.

He took a step towards her and put a hand on her waist.

"What's wrong?" He asked, as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear with his other free hand. "What's on your mind?"

"I..." She was still deciding whether or not she should be straight up about it when a cold voice broke them apart.

"And what do you think you are doing with my sister?"

It was Hylla.

Reyna mentally groaned as Jason jumped back a metre away from her. She did not need this now. She was new to all this and she did not need her sister to stir up trouble, no matter how good her intentions are.

Hylla marched over to Reyna a forcefully pulled her, by the wrist, out of the front door before pulling her back into the kitchen.

"Wait, this is Reyna's house. Get out, Jason, or, let me just say, there will only be six going on the quest." She said in a dangerous voice.

Jason looked over to Reyna, if he was scared, he was doing a good job of hiding it, and she nodded for him to go.

He made his way out of her house with the dogs in tow. Hylla glared as he walked past but he remained unfazed.

"See you later, then." He said and Hylla let out a low growl.

Reyna rolled her eyes at his bravery, or stupidity as she saw it. He was practically asking to be skinned alive by her sister and he did not even know it.

* * *

The front door shut and immediately, Hylla pounced on the subject as if it were some prey and she was some dangerous lioness.

"I come to visit my sister, whom I have not properly seen for in years, only to find that she's now with the boy who left her damaged and looking weak in front of the people she leads?"

Reyna let out an exasperated sigh. "It's not like that. Everything isn't always just black and white."

"Oh? It's no-"

"No, Hylla. It's not." She cut her sister off.

Reyna walked over to the couch and sat down on it. Hylla did the same.

She decided to cut through the chase and got straight to the point. "He had no choice, Hylla, he had no choice as to be taken away, have his memories removed and then being made to go on a quest or not. I can't hold my falling apart against him forever because I have tried and it does not make the problem go away." She quickly got in before her sister had the chance to knock her back. "And I admit that how I handled it was pathetic. It was pathetic that I missed him so much and it was pathetic how it made me feel when he couldn't remember me after he got back." She inched closer to her sister and took her hands. "But he remembers now and what we have is love. _Love_, Hylla, _love_. The thing that has absolutely no survival value but gives value to survival."

Her sister was not moved by her little speech and instead, pulled her hand out of Reyna's grasp and folded her arms.

"Love?" She said the word as if it was a curse. "He doesn't love you because you don't destroy the person that you love. It is all in you head, Reyna. Boys and men are all the same; they are pigs. You will only end up hurt." She was not finished there. "And he is a son of Jupiter, a god who is known for his womanizing ways. Plus, he is also irritating and is an asshole." She said factually.

"You're right. He's annoying. He's probably the world's biggest asshole. He makes me want to scream. He drives me crazy and is out of his mind. He always ruins my day and manages to save it at the last minute. And I hate his guts." Reyna paused and continued in a softer voice. "But he's also everything I want."

Her sister uncrossed her arms and looked at her, wanting to say something, but Reyna was not giving her the chance.

"Hylla, I came to this camp hating everyone of the opposite gender and now, here I am, crazy about some boy. How did he slip under my defences?" This was so unlike herself and from Hylla's face, she knew that too. "He was never supposed to mean this much to me. I was never supposed to fall so hard but I did and sometimes, being a good sister means letting me go and allowing me to hurl myself into my own destiny and prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over, just like you did when you went with the Amazons."

"And look how well that turned out." She spat back coldly.

Reyna couldn't believe it. Her sister was being so stubborn and narrow-minded that she was willing to put her own sister's happiness on hold for her own beliefs.

Reyna stood up. She was not going to fight with her sister. She was going to step up and be the mature one right now.

"You know, you're just being unreasonable now and I'm not going to sit here and listen to you talk anymore. I'm late for morning muster and I'll be working all day so goodbye, Hylla." She walked over the front door.

"Rey, wait," Her sister called, all signs of intransigence gone.

"You know where the mess hall is if you get hungry and I'm sure you can find your way to the hotel in New Rome." Reyna said indifferently.

Before she turned the doorknob, she said with her back to Hylla "Sometimes, I believe that you've hidden you feelings so well that you've forgotten where you had placed them and I pity you for that."

* * *

_I'm sorry that this post kind of suffered because I did not want to drag it out, especially after the previous one. I just felt that putting too much emphasis on this subject would just overkill it - I don't think I need to write a really long chapter dedicated to Reyna justifying her liking Jason. _

_At the start, Reyna was acting all teenage-girl-like over whether she just imagined her and Jason getting together or not because she had been waiting for it to happen for so long and did not want it to be all in her head._

_Next chapter: Reyna reaches out to Piper? Let's see what Piper thinks of this._


	14. 13 Piper

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

"And that, Beauty Queen, is why you should never light firecrackers indoors." Leo finished saying.

They heard someone clear their throat and turned around, sitting up straighter than they did before. It was Reyna.

"Can I speak with Piper for a minute?" She asked then added "Alone, possibly?"

Piper looked over to Leo, whose mouth was gaping at the Roman beauty. She gave his shin a good kick under the table which make him leap up and snap back into reality.

"OK. I'll just go order us more hot chocolate. Want one?" He asked Reyna.

"No, I'm fine." She said taking a seat, ignoring his staring.

She wondered why the busy Praetor had taken time out to talk to her.

"So," Piper started awkwardly.

"As you know, you guys shall be leaving for the quest tomorrow." Reyna said in a business-like voice. "It will be a perilous journey and neither of us knows how long it will take to complete."

Piper had a feeling where this conversation was headed.

"Look, if you're afraid of me stealing Jason away from you while I'm onboard the Argo II and you're here, you have some seriously wrong judgment of chara-"

"That's not why I'm here, nor do I think you'd do that."

"I could."

"But you won't. Even if I don't know you well at all, we both can be sure of that."

Piper sighed. _No seriously wrong judgment of character here. _She thought.

"I just want to wish you good luck...and to thank you." She continued in a lighter tone.

There must've been shock evident on her face but Reyna carried on talking.

"Jason came back safe and he came back happy. It must've been because he had someone like you and Leo looking out for him, so thank you for that, even if you didn't do it for me."

It was obvious that Reyna hardly ever did these things as she often paused to think of what to say next. Her stone-cold Praetor mask was also put away and instead, Reyna smiled a soft smile.

Leo came back holding two cups of hot chocolate and as if on cue, Reyna got up to leave.

"And good luck, Piper. I know that this quest will test your character but remember to not let it get to you. You too, Leo."

Piper kicked his shin again to stop him from looking like an idiot, spilling some of the drink on the table. He hastily started wiping it up with serviettes.

"Also, can I offer you a piece of advice?" Reyna asked as she was about to leave.

Piper nodded, looking over the Latino elf to make sure he wasn't eavesdropping.

"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. I speak from experience when I say; you cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness."

She gave one last smile, and then it was all business again. She turned on her heel and Piper watched as Reyna made it for the Pomerian line.

_So, that's the Reyna Jason loves._ She thought to herself. _And that's the Reyna that's been hiding from the world._ She let a small smile form on her lips. _And that's the Reyna I will remember._ She shook her head as if to dispel a bad thought. _But I still don't like her and will deny ever liking her to anyone who says otherwise._

* * *

_Wow, I've made Reyna seem really wise it this chapter. I'm surprised that I didn't give her a grey beard and make her sit down on a tree stump atop of some hill._

_Was this short? Definitely. Was it a filler? Kind of. I wanted to write a bit about Reyna's and Piper's relationship and show that Piper's back to her normal self again. Well, mostly but with a hint of jealousy. I should also say that because the story line of the Piper-Jason-Reyna love triangle has kind of ended, Piper will be taking a back seat from now on and I was think of letting Hylla step up._

_Next chapter: If chapter 11 did not have enough Jeyna in it, prepare yourself for what's coming up . If it were possible to, you would be sick of them once I'm done. Cue some elevator-like flashback-inducing music because Reyna will take us back to a memory of hers._


	15. 14 Reyna

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Reyna did not sit at the Praetor's table at dinnertime. Instead, she opted to sit at cohort five's table, amongst the other legionnaires and the Greeks.

It was strange to be surrounded by so many people at mealtime and she had hardly touched her food because she was too busy listening in and joining in conversations with others. She did not even think of Hylla, who she had been avoiding all day and who had also been avoiding her.

Reyna had a lengthy talk with Piper about how to best use a dagger during combat, sided with Jason when he said that Dakota should lay off the red Kool-Aid, discussed Roman architecture with Annabeth, gave Frank a pep-talk for tomorrow's big day, teased Percy about his lack of praetorship skills, ignored Leo's attempts to badly flirt with her and assured Hazel she will find Nico on the quest.

It was strange how fast everything had happened, and the Greeks and some of her soldiers were leaving to close the Doors of Death tomorrow, with her remaining behind with the responsibility of holding the fort on her own.

* * *

Dinner ended and all the quest members went back to their sleeping quarters to either finish packing or get some rest, Reyna followed Jason to his house because that was the only way to make sure he will start packing and pack the right things.

"Jason, I don't think you're going to need to bring an alarm clock along. I don't even think you're going to get any sleep, with six other demigods onboard. And why, may I ask, are you bringing _that_ along? How did you even get it out of the Principia?" She pointed to the jellybean bowl he was trying to cram into his already-full suitcase.

He rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll leave it with you." He said, placing it down on the bedside table and picking up a photo of them instead.

He put it into his valise and looked over at her. She quickly pretended that she hadn't seen him do that but a small smile on her lips gave her away.

"So," she said in a low, alluring voice. "off to save the world again, are you?"

Jason pushed her onto the bed and she shrieked. He laid down on top of her.

"Apparently so, that is, if we don't kill each other first." He said jokingly.

She pushed him off herself. That was just too intimate and it made her uncomfortable. She tried to disguise this discomfort by changing the subject; a subject that had been in the back of her mind all day, since Piper tried to bring it up.

"Jason?"

"Yes?"

"You know how you'll be gone for a while, and we're not exactly sure how long 'a while' is? Well, what if during 'a while' you'll...change your mind about...us?" She said tentatively.

There she had done it; prompted a talk about the thing she felt most awkward discussing; their relationship and feelings in general.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean; I won't be on the Argo II while you will...with her."

He sat up and sighed, all signs of playfulness gone. "That's not fair, Rey."

"I'm not saying that I don't trust you, because I do, it's just I sometimes wonder, that's all." She said, trying to avert an argument with him. She sat up, too, and carried on talking. "I sometimes wonder to myself if you will suddenly decide you like Camp Half-Blood and the Greeks better and will make that your home. You still have that choice while I'll still be here no matter what." She took in a breath and continued in a softer voice. "I know it'll sound selfish but if you leave, I'm just worried that I'll spend the rest of my life unsure of where I went wrong, what I did to make you leave and what I'll do with myself."

Jason looked at Reyna closely.

_Oh, Gods. Please not let me tear up now. _She pleaded with herself.

Too late; a salty tear drop fell from her eye. Jason wiped it away for her but she guessed that too many were falling now, making him give up and pull her into an embrace instead. She hated how he could so easily make her weak and cursed herself for allowing it to happen.

"Rey," he said softly as she took a deep breath, taking in his scent.

His voice made her think of what she could lose and that only made her cry harder. It was so un-Roman and so un-Reyna of herself.

"I'm so sorry. I'm just being stupid now." She pulled away from him and began wiping away tears as fast as she could but there were always more to replace the ones that dried.

He tilted her head up with a hand so that she had no choice but to look at his blurring face. With his other hand he pushed a lock of hair that had fallen loose from her plait behind her ear.

"Do you think it's possible for home to be a person and not a place?" He asked seriously. "Because, that's what I believe, and Reyna, you are that for me. You are home and no matter where you are, I'll return. I did before, didn't I?"

"You came back because you had to." She quipped, pouting.

He let a small laugh escape from his mouth. "I'm trying to be romantic here but you're making that really hard, Rey."

"Romantic? I'm no good at that stuff either. I don't think I know what the word even means." She said with a quivering breath.

"To be completely honest, I don't either." He said. "How about I just buy you flowers once in a while and we'll call it that?"

"Flowers are a waste and the pollen makes me sneeze."

"Again, you are making it really hard." He laughed quietly.

She had no witty reply to that so they stayed in silence, his hand still holding up her chin.

Her heart beat grew louder with every second he continued to stare into her eyes, so much that she was sure it could be heard.

He must've had enough of just sitting there and before she could register it, he started moving his head closer to hers. He was going to kiss her. On the lips. She didn't know why she was so afraid of it happening; it wasn't her first kiss but it sure felt like it was happening all over again.

* * *

They were standing on top of Temple Hill, overlooking New Rome.

"Knowing that it's your birthday, you'd think he would at least give you a break." He said.

It was her sixteenth birthday and they had just come out of Jupiter's temple, after listening to Octavian's futile attempt to try to convince the newly elected praetors to send three demigods on a quest to retain the Sibylline books.

"Yeah, right. Knowing it's my birthday would only make him want to bother me even more."

They continued looking down at the land below them.

"So any special plans for today?" He asked after a while.

"Nope."

"Not even one?"

"Nope."

"Any presents you particularly liked?"

"Nope."

"Any presents at all?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence between them again before he broke it.

"Do you mind if I give you one?"

"One what?" She asked.

"Don't be stupid, Rey."

She rolled her eyes. "No, _you _don't be stupid, Grace."

"No, _you."_

"No, _you."_

"_You_."

"_You_."

They continued this childish game for a while, each turn resulting in their voices rising even more.

"_You_."

"_You_."

"_You!_"

"_You!_"

But when it was his turn to say it again, he didn't. Instead, he did, by far, the bravest thing and also the most idiotic thing ever; he kissed her.

In that moment, Reyna found out that she knew how to properly kiss someone; she leaned her head to the left and her eyes automatically fluttered closed. She swore she could've felt sparks where his fingertips made contact with her waist. She broke apart and found the moron smiling widely and she realised that that was the present he was talking about.

"Happy birthday, Rey." he said, smile widening even more, before simply making his way down the rocky path towards Via Praetoria, leaving her to stand there on her own.

Her hand flew to her lips and her fingers ran gently along them.

_My first kiss. _She thought pensively, feeling where his lips were just an instant ago. Then she scowled. _Stolen by that Jason Grace!_

"Grace!" She yelled after him. "Just wait until I get my hands on you! You will regret this!"

"No, I won't!' He yelled back from somewhere in the distance but she could hear his pace quicken.

She began running after the son of Jupiter, feeling angry that he had the audacity to kiss her but also a bit happy that he did.

It was in that moment, as she chased after him, she realised she had fallen for that stupid boy, and the years of working hard to deny it to herself became undone.

* * *

Their lips were an inch apart from each other's when her eyes gently closed. Then she felt it again; his kiss.

It was like a scene from one of those movies she would watch at the cinemas in New Rome; there was romantic music playing softly, fireworks in the background and everything was in slow-motion.

She entangled her fingers in his hair and they continued to kiss gently until they broke apart, breathless.

"Stay with me tonight, Reyna?" He asked.

She paused. She had slept next to him many times before when they would spend the night looking at constellations, but to actually climb into his bed was another matter.

_But it's nothing but simply sleeping next to each other in what happened to be the same bed. _She reasoned with herself.

She slowly nodded and he pulled back the blanket, for both of them to climb in, abandoning the idea of packing.

They both laid down on their sides, facing each other, and he studied her face just as she studied his. None of them wanted to be the first to fall asleep but seeing as she has had much more practice than him at forcing herself to stay awake, she won out and was soon listening to the rhythmic breathing of Jason Grace, son of Jupiter.

She watched him as he slept, pulling the blanket up more around herself. His arms were at his side and his eyes were closed. Reyna slid her hand across the bed sheet so that their fingers _just_ touched. If it weren't for the electricity he was subconsciously giving off, making her fingertips prickle softly, she wouldn't have been able to tell that they were touching at all.

His mouth curved into a smile as if he had felt her gaze fall upon him.

"Good night." Reyna whispered gently.

She fell asleep beside him in the dark, a smile, too, on her face and her fingers now laced in his.

* * *

_Don't get the wrong idea; them sleeping in the same bed was totally innocent - they both kept their clothes on at all times, I imagine._

_Yes, I know, Reyna was kind of OOC and I don't even have a proper excuse. It just felt right to make her that way to help the flow of the story. Also, did you like the flashback? I quite liked writing it and think that the childishness of it helped balance out the seriousness of the whole chapter._

_Next chapter: Jason farewells Reyna as the quest members prepare to take off. So, pretty much more Jeyna fluffiness. I just can't get enough!_


	16. 15 Jason

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

"Can someone help me over here?" Leo asked.

They were all in the weaponry putting on their armour. It was about six o'clock in the morning and sun was still rising, meaning that the Argo II was due to leave very soon.

Piper rolled her eyes and went over to help the son of Hephaestus.

"This strap is not done up tight enough, I don't think. And why does your armour have fruit stickers on it?" She could be heard asking in the background. 'Hazel can you come here and help us, please?"

The door opened and then shut. A new figure had entered the room.

"How about we go finish up putting on these chunks of metal outside?" Percy asked once he looked up and saw that it was Reyna.

"Excuse me, Seaweed Brain, but it is these "chunks of metal" will be what saves our lives on this quest." Annabeth commented.

Percy did not say anything back to his girlfriend, as he usually would, and instead, led the rest of the quest members out of the weaponry.

"But I'm nearly done helping Leo." Piper said.

"It's fine. I can do it for him outside." Hazel said looking between Jason, Piper and Reyna.

He mentally thanked her, particularly because he knew how awkward she acted around Leo and she was willing to deal with it so that he and Reyna could have some time alone.

"But-"

"Come on, Leo." Hazel said quickly, making her way out with Leo following her.

Piper let out an exasperated sigh before following Hazel, too. "Fine."

Percy looked at Jason and then at Reyna and then at Jason again.

"Percy Jackson!" She shouted impatiently and he promptly shut the door behind him.

Jason sighed. Percy could really be helpful at moments and really unhelpful all the other times.

There was a moment of silence before she came closer and started walking around him as if to check if he had all his armour on correctly.

"So, does it feel weird to be leaving Camp Jupiter after just returning a few days ago?"

"I think it's weird to be leaving home at all." Jason replied as she adjusted his golden armour. "Especially when you're not sure you're ever going to come back. Why would anyone ever do that?" He asked, smiling at how light the conversation seemed, even though the topic was the exact opposite of that.

"Sometimes the world needs saving and it's always idiots like us who fall for that one." She joked.

"But you're not being an idiot this time, Reyna. You're not going to be there to watch my back." He said, unable to hide his sadness.

"Well, I guess you're just going to have to find another moron to do that." She continued to joke, unaware, or pretending to be unaware, of the seriousness behind what he had said.

There was a knock on the door and Frank's head came into view.

"Praetor Reyna, Jason?"

They both looked up.

"We'll be right there." Reyna replied, not waiting to hear why he was calling on them.

He nodded before shutting the door again. Jason was thankful that Reyna was just fixing his armour for him. Sure, Frank probably knows about them being together but it would still be embarrassing for both parties if he had caught them making out.

He turned his attention back to Reyna.

"You know, we won't have another moment to ourselves before the quest once we leave this room." He said as he grabbed her hands and placed them on his shoulders.

Her fingers ran up his neck and got lost in his hair as if it was now something automatic. Nothing else needed to be said before she kissed him. It was a soft, long-lasting kiss. One that he could still feel lingering on his lips long after it had ended.

He looked into her eyes and although she was showing no signs of being weak or sad, he knew that at that moment, she was.

"Rey, I love you. Don't forget that while I'm gone." He softly said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, please. You act as if you are going to be gone for years." She said, hiding any weaknesses as she resumed looking for the non-existent mistakes he made while putting on his armour.

Jason didn't say that he could be gone for more than years because to say it aloud would only make the possibility seem more real. Instead, he gave a soft chuckle and hoped that that would mask his worries and let her continue her 'tough girl' act.

"I know, but it's true. I am who I am because of you. You are every dream I've ever dreamt, every wish I've ever made and reason I've ever had. Whatever happens in the future, know that I _love _you. Know that I will _always_ be yours."

There was a moment of silence as she gave no immediate reply.

_Oh no. Did I say too much? _He thought.

She suddenly stopped tinkering with his armour and looked him in the eyes. The fluorescent lighting just allowed him to see a strange concoction of happiness, sadness, faith, doubt, confidence and dreading in them.

She parted her lips, which, only a moment ago, were on his to speak. Her softly-spoken words drifted to his awaiting ear. "And _you_ know that I will always be _yours_."

* * *

_Well, this chapter abruptly ended._

_I think that after days of being a complete emotional wreck, Reyna is slowly transitioning back to her old, tough self as part of preparation to shoulder the responsibilities of the legion and New Rome on her own again. That is why she seems kind of distant in this chapter - she's trying to keep it together. I also think that the last line was very sweet of her. Don't you think so, too?_

_Next chapter: The end of this story is near; there's only two chapters left. I won't give away too much, though - you'll have to read it yourself. Just know that it won't be in Reyna's point of view. Or Jason's. Any guesses as to who it will be?_


	17. 16 Hylla

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you here." Her younger sister's voice rang in the cold morning air.

It was minutes before seven and the gigantic war ship, built by that irritating _graecus_ elf, was due to take off.

She didn't know how to reply without wounding her own pride, but she didn't need to as Reyna continued to speak.

"If you are going to try to convince me to break it off with Jason, you should walk away now. I'm not doing it on at the moment he's leaving and if you try to force me, I have armed legionnaires at the scene."

Hylla tried to keep herself from getting angry at and around Reyna, especially after yesterday, but her anger was flaring up and keeping it contained was not something she was good at.

"This is ridiculous! You wouldn't do that to your own sister!"

"You're right; I wouldn't but I would do it to anyone going against me."

Hylla opened her mouth to officially open up a screaming match between herself and her sister, but the latter interjected.

"Hylla, I'm not the same person I was four years ago. Remember this."

Reyna had said the first half firmly but the last two words sound as if she was pleading her.

Again she opened her mouth to try to say something but she was interrupted by another person.

"Praetor Reyna?"

Reyna let out a sigh, as Hylla rolled her eyes in annoyance, and turned to the girl speaking. "Gwen? What are you doing here?" She asked in her praetor voice.

"Well, seeing as Jason's leaving today..." She trailed off in what must've been fear of the almighty female praetor.

Reyna let out another sigh and continued in a less harsh tone. "I'm guessing you want to hang around and see him off?"

The girl, Gwen, nodded, straightening under Reyna's hard stare.

"Fine, you may but as soon as the ship is out of view, I want you back behind the Pomerian line."

Gwen gave a very sharp "Yes, Praetor." as Reyna turned back to Hylla.

"Hylla, I will speak with you later but now, I am going to have a few last words with the quest members." Reyna gave a curt nod to Gwen and her before making her way towards the Argo II.

This matter was not up for discussion. She knew from the tone Reyna used; it was definite.

Hylla watched as Reyna walked over to the son of Jupiter with her shoulders back and head raised. She watched as she then continued to speak with him. She kept at an arm's length away from the boy but even from just watching, Hylla knew that she felt more for him than just some usual praetor - legionnaire feelings. She watched as he said some bad joke and her sister's face contorted into a look of annoyance. She watched as Reyna punched his arm and him rubbing it gingerly with a sheepish look on his face.

"It's weird watching those two being together, isn't it? Even if they won't admit that they are official but totally are."

Hylla turned to see who spoke and found that the girl, Gwen, was still standing beside her. Her wavering voice was gone.

She didn't usually take part in meaningless conversations like this but she couldn't help herself.

"It's even weirder watching those two being together while knowing that only four years ago, Reyna had hated all men and believed them to be pigs."

"She sometimes still does."

The corners of her mouth raised into a small smile at hearing this. Her baby sister, Reyna, has changed so much but had managed to hold onto her roots, even if it was only by the ends. Maybe, her chance of reconverting her sister was not entirely gone. Hylla still held onto the piece of hope; maybe, she could get Reyna to return with her to the Amazons.

* * *

The quest members were all aboard, now, and the sails were down and flapping in the light wind. They were all ready to depart.

All of Camp Jupiter's legionnaires were lined up in impeccably straight lines; polished shields to the front and swords in belts.

There was a silence that not even the skinny, blond teddy-bear killer, Octavian, who she had, in the last 24 hours, come to know him to be one to never shut up, broke.

Her sister sat atop a light brown pegasus, pacing in front of the lines.

"You leave today with the responsibility of stopping Terra from destroying our world. You leave today as the world's only hope." She said in a loud, clear voice. "May you have the blessing of the Gods and Goddesses on this journey and may they keep you safe. Camp Jupiter and New Rome shall stand behind you. Do not let us down. Do us proud."

"_Senatus Populusque Romanus! Senatus Populusque Romanus_!" The legionnaires chanted.

"Jason Grace, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper Maclean, Leo Valdez; good luck and may you come back safely." She concluded her speech.

Watching her capable sister, it suddenly hit Hylla like a tonne of bricks; she was holding onto someone who didn't exist anymore; Reyna was not the same 'Reyna' she had separated from four years ago. People change, whether for the better or for the worst, and she could spend the rest of her life wishing they wouldn't or couldn't but that never works. She just had to accept it as it happens. And it had happened.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked over, again, to her sister. She was sporting a purple toga, atop a Pegasus and in front of the hundreds she led; a sign of praetorship and power. She made countless decisions on her own everyday and none of them seemed to have came flying back at her face; a sign that she has grown up and can manage great responsibility. She had found Camp Jupiter and made it her own home, without Hylla's help; a sign that she, as the older sister, had to do as she was asked yesterday and let go of her sister's hands and let her stand alone, just to make sure she still could. It was now obvious to her that Reyna, after years of being babied by her, still could and had done just that for the past four years.

* * *

The monstrous ship's hull left the ground and was gaining height. Everyone watched in awe as it rose higher and higher and the sails rippled in the wind. Three figures aboard were waving below and some people from the cohorts waved back.

Hylla's attention was on her sister. She was as still as a statue, her metallic lapdogs by her pegasus's side, just watching as he left on that ship. They weren't falling, but Hylla knew that there were tears in Reyna's eyes.

Suddenly, Reyna did something much unexpected; she gave her pegasus a light kick and thrashed the reins. She was going after that ship. She was going to give him one last goodbye; the one she didn't give in front of everyone in fear of how it would make her look.

Usually, Hylla would groan and try to stop something like this from happening as it was damaging her sister's flawless reputation amongst the Romans but not this time; she was letting go. She was going to let her sister, as Reyna had put it, "hurl herself into her own destiny and prepare to pick up the pieces" if it ends badly.

She, like everyone else, watched as a blond boy outstretched his arm to reach the outstretched arm of the girl on the pegasus. They were saying something but it could not be heard by those on the ground as it was getting lost in the wind. Was it 'goodbye'?

The ship continued to make progress but the dark haired girl did not pursue it. Instead, she pulled back and, while floating midair, watched as the golden ship carried her loved one away into the distance.

* * *

The crowd began losing interest and dispersed; they carried on with their usual training.

"Look at our praetor! The _graeci_ have influenced her! She is getting carried away by her emotions!" The augur shouted to the last few observers leaving the Field of Mars. "This is unprofessionalism at its fin-"

Hylla would not stand for the skinny creep bad-mouthing her sister and so threw a dagger at the boy, narrowly missing him.

"That one missed you but if you do not leave right now, the next one won't." She growled dangerously.

He gulped and muttered something inaudible under his breath as he fled the scene.

Hylla turned back to the ship, which was now just a tiny dot in the sky. Her sister was still afloat on her pegasus, still watching.

"Jason and Reyna, they don't agree on much, do they?" She said to no one in particular, thinking about moments before her left, her sister had scowled at the boy.

"I don't think they agree on anything." Gwen, who had disobeyed Reyna and was still standing here, airily replied.

"Do they fight all the time?"

"All the time. There's not one day, when they are together, that they don't."

She was about to open her mouth to say something against them being together but she was cut off by the younger girl.

"But despite their differences, they are crazy about each other and that's all that matters." Gwen let a small smile form on her lips as she admitted "Four years ago, I would've thought this was impossible. Sometimes I still do."

Hylla bit her tongue and instead, wisely said "As long as they can feel the warmth of the same sun, see the rise and fall of the same moon and step foot on the same planet, they are not impossible." before walking away.

Hylla stopped to glanced over at her sister who was still watching the horizon, even though the ship was long gone. Should she call for her?

_No, she can look after herself. _She thought. _This is me letting go. This is me trusting her to find her own way. I did it once, four years ago and I can do it again. Hopefully, the outcome will be just as good._

* * *

_Hylla's, just like Reyna's, personality is so complicated, isn't it? She always has this internal conflict between her 'leader' self and 'family' self - it was really hard to go from one to the other while writing this chapter._

_So, how did you like this chapter? It's different from all the others because, well, it focuses on Hylla. I thought it was really heart-warming of Hylla to have realise that Reyna has grown up and to "let go" of her. I don't know if it really showed but I really wanted to show Reyna's maturity; it sometimes surpasses that of her sister's._

_Next chapter: Only one chapter to go! It's, by far, the shortest chapter in this story but I think it gives a real nice and rounded ending. It'll be on Reyna's part. Also, note that there'll be quite a bit of Latin but I'll have translations so, don't worry._


	18. 18A Reyna

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

Apollo steadily drove the sun into the sky and the streets of New Rome began filling itself with people making their way to work or school. The Field of Mars was littered with legionnaires training and Reyna was no longer with Skippy in the air; she had flown him back to the stables and was now in the Principia, preparing to get some paperwork done and do the usual errands of a praetor.

Everyone was continuing on with their day as if a giant golden warship did not just reap three of their most valuable demigods and four of their Greek allies from the camp.

* * *

Reyna heard whining and looked down to find her two dogs who now were her two closest friends.

"_Salve, Aurum et Argentum." _She kindly said, bending over to pat her dogs.

They gave another whine. Their bright ruby eyes were not as vivid as usual.

"_Decipiaris eum, quoque_?"

More whining from them confirmed this.

"_Me, quoque_." She sighed.

They seemed to understand her as they curled around her feet and put their heads on their paws.

She picked up her pen and began skimming through fine print and signing papers; the same tedious job she has done on her own for the past eight months and would have to do on her own again.

In the back of her mind she knew that, as her other wait for him came to an end, another wait had begun. This time instead of waiting for him to safely come back from the Greek camp, she was waiting for him to come back safely from this quest.

"_Veni reduxit sanum, et mox, vos magnus morionem."_ She whispered under her breath. "Placere."

* * *

Translations (Google Translate):

_Salve, Aurum et Argentum. - Hello, Aurum and Argentum._

_Decipiaris eum, quoque? - You miss him, too?_

_Me, quoque. - Me, too._

_Veni reduxit sanum, et mox, vos magnus morionem. Placere. - Come back safe and soon, you big idiot. Please._

_There; my first story - complete. I have finally finished writing, correcting and posting it. I'm really happy with how it came out and am also a bit proud of myself for going through with it. _

_Yes, the ending was quite short and sudden, but so much had already happened before and I did not think that it need to be dragged out anymore. From reading this chapter, you can guess why the title is what it is, right? And I guess, that I've made the ending quite open-ended but I think that there is just enough closure not to drive me crazy.  
_

_Thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing. Do you have a__ny last thoughts?_


	19. Author's notes 2

If you have stuck with me throughout the whole sham that is my story (yes, all nine days of it), I'd like to thank you. If you have not, I'd still like to thank you, although, what are you doing on the last page having not read the entire the story?

Yes, I know, I know, there's a lot I didn't touch on (i.e. Tyson, Ella, Coach Hedge, Percabeth, Frazel ect. ect.) and a lot of loose ends I did not tie up while writing this fiction and I'm sorry for that. You cannot argue that I did not include enough Jeyna, can you?

Thank you to all my readers and to all my reviewers. You guys have made my first Fanfiction experience memorable and hopefully, my writing wasn't too bad and you will also stick around to read whatever sad thing I come up with next.

Until we meet again, goodbye to all my lovelies! May us Jeyna fans continue shipping our ship until we can ship no longer.

Love always, V.

P.S. Speaking of the 'sad thing I come up with next', read the deleted scenes of this story if you'd like. There'll be three parts that I omitted from the final product because it didn't feel right to include them and I'll be posting them shortly.


	20. 8B Reyna DS

_I cut out this part from chapter eight because I felt it was too dark compared to the rest of the story and also the content was a bit too mature. Although it does not explicitly say it, I'm sure you understand the suggestions. If you have a very delicate mind, I advise you to skip this particular chapter and go onto the next one._

**_Bold_**_ is for the deleted scene._

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

**All Reyna wanted at the moment was to sleep. She wished for dreams to pull her from this world and make her forget. She wanted sleep to stop the memories of today, of the past eight months, of the past four years from swirling around her. She wanted it to put an end to the ache that consumed her. However, Morpheus was not sympathetic tonight.**

**He, instead, threw her into her past and she had a nightmare of her time on Blackbeard's pirate ship.**

* * *

**She could feel the world rocking continuously, making it hard for her to keep her footing. The stench of the place wafted into her nose, it was a mixture of a mass of unwashed bodies, the salty sea and rotting wood. Even the chains bounding her to the wall felt heavy and completely real.**

**One of the pirates was standing uncomfortably close to her. He whispered things he would do to her if only she were a few years older, things she was too ashamed to ever repeat aloud. He was caressing her cheek, now, and she could smell his putrid breath on her skin.**

**"You stay away from her, now!" She could hear her sister yell from the cell next to hers. "Fight back, Reyna! Fight back!"**

**But Reyna couldn't. She was too staved, too tired, and too broken. Too broken to even save herself from this wretched man. Reyna closed her eyes and let some tears fall as she closed her eyes. Even if she could feel his lips on her neck, she did not want to see it.**

* * *

**She sat up in a tangle of blankets and bed sheets in a cold sweat. She reached for her dagger and stared into the dark corners of her room. She heard a whine and four ruby red eyes looked stared back at her. She sighed in relief.**

**"Come here." She said, moving over to make room for them on her bed.**

* * *

Reyna woke up the next morning at the same time as she would any other morning; half past six.

She looked in the mirror, after her shower, and only sighed when she saw how much darker the circles under her eyes were today. She doubted anyone would notice, though, as they had grown use to seeing them there every day for nearly the past year.

* * *

She got changed and made her way to the kitchen.

She fed the dogs some machinery oil and grabbed a handful of cornflakes to eat on her way to the morning muster.

* * *

She waited for the dogs to leave before shutting the door behind her. _Aurum_ and _Argentum_ ran and she called after them until she saw who they ran to; Jason. Reyna continued locking her door before nonchalantly making her way to through the cohorts to rally the legionnaires for muster.

She could feel Jason awkwardly walking beside her but she did her best to ignore his presence. Of course, he didn't do the same.

"Reyna, about last night, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. It was out of line for me to say those things to you. I hurt you, I know. So, I guess I should've seen you yelling at me coming."

He apologised but she still was ignoring him.  
'Reyna?" He asked. "Rey?"

She couldn't stand him anymore.

"Look, muster's about to start, so go get your friends from the Argo II and make sure Percy's not late. He's in cohort five's cabin. Now, don't you be late or it's cleaning the stables for the rest of the week."


	21. 17 Reyna DS

_I omitted this chapter from the story because I decided that I wanted that air of mystery to continue floating around what Reyna had said to Jason and what no one else could hear. Also, I chose for the official ending to be in Reyna's point of view and if I had included this, that would mean that two chapters in a row would be following her. I decided to save what I wrote and post it as a 'deleted scene' because I do think that it is quite a nice Jeyna moment._

_**Bold **__is for the deleted scene. So, yes, the whole chapter was cut out._

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

**"Percy, the sails!" She heard Leo shout from somewhere aboard the ship. "Jason, if you will."**

**She watched as sails undid itself from the ropes, neatly rolled out and blew in the gentle breeze. She watched as a sudden gush of wind blew everyone a foot back and lifted the warship so that it rose into the air. She watched as the demigods waved at everyone down below and a few waved back. She knew that it was silly but she felt as if they were leaving with a part of her as well, more specifically, she felt as if Jason was leaving with a part of her heart.**

**The ship was a good 10 metres in the air, now and was beginning to move not only vertically but also horizontally.**

**Perhaps it was the teenager side of her that made her do it. Perhaps it was the one that went to watch movies in New Rome and left the cinema believing them to be real. Perhaps it was the thought of not laying eyes on him or feeling his warmth for an indefinite amount of time that propelled her to get Scipio up in the air a follow that ship.**

**She did not know what she was doing, nor did she look down to see what the people she led thought of her actions. She simply urged her pegasus to go higher and faster so that she could reach the side of the vessel.**

**"Reyna, what are you doing?" He shouted to her.**

**"I have no idea!" She shouted back.**

**She could hear his golden laugh faintly in the wind. He leaned over the side and reached out an arm. Before weighing up the chances of falling off her steed, she let one of her hands release the reins and stretched her arms out to his, too. Their fingers met, only lightly at first because of the unsteadiness of both Skippy and the Argo II, but soon he had her by the fingertips. She could feel a current of electricity running through her, giving her further courage to speak her mind, to tell him what's troubling her, and not be afraid of it making her sound like some childish school girl.**

**"You know, the scariest thing about distance is that you don't know whether they'll miss you of forget you while you're apart." She yelled over the wind, hoping her voice was loud enough.**

**She was aware of the people onboard watching the scene she was causing. She could also feel the hundreds of eyes belonging to the legionnaires trained on her. She didn't care at all.**

**"Rey, I know you're worried but you have to believe that we'll get our happy ending in the end; that the world will be saved, that I won't die and that our love for each other will be the same, if not, even greater."**

**"You're really cheesy, Grace! You know that, right?"**

**He chuckled. She could feel her pegasus getting tired and she guessed he could see that he was slowing down, too.**

**"Reyna, goodb-"**

**"No!"**

**"Rey, I have to go." He said pleadingly.**

**She didn't mean it in that way and she told him this.**

**"No, I meant 'no' to saying goodbye."**

**"Why? What's wrong with sayi- ?"**

**She cut him off because they were out of time.**

**"Because it makes it official. Because it means you really are going away."**

**"Rey," He said in a softer tone.**

**"No goodbyes." She said firmly.**

**He sighed. "Fine. ****_Donec una simus iterum_****."**

**She smiled and small, sad one. "****_Donec una simus iterum."_**

**And they let go of each other; him continuing to gain height and her staying where she was.**

**She was able to catch his own small, sad smile before his figure became too small to recognise. Even so, she didn't cease watching the horizon the ship disappeared into and was unaware of the tears falling down her cheeks.**

* * *

_Translations (Google Translate):_

_Donec una simus iterum - Until we are together again._


	22. 18B Jason DS

_This is a happier alternative to the official ending but I chose to go with the other one because I wanted to show the more mature side of Reyna's love for Jason. I still like this chapter a lot just because the humour in it is really uplifting. And a Jason-Leo bromance? Who doesn't love that?_

_**Bold **__is for the deleted scene. In other words, all of it._

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings ect. ect. are the property of their respective owners (Rick Riordan). The original characters (if there are any) and plot are property of the author (me). No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

**Camp Jupiter was nothing but a small dot in the patchwork quilt that was the earth, now.**

**Jason was still holding onto the railing of the Argo II. He took in a deep breath and held it for a second before breathing out again. The image of his Reyna's small, sad smile as the distance between them grew was one that would haunt him all throughout this quest. In saying that, it was also an image that would encourage him to come back alive, all just to change it into a proper smile.**

**Jason sighed again and felt a hand slap him on the shoulder. It was Leo.**

**"Man, leaving behind a girl like that," He gave a low whistle. "Let's just say that it was more than what Uncle Leo could watch. Heartbreaking stuff, heartbreaking stuff."**

**Jason didn't make a reply and so his best friend continued more sensitively.**

**"Look, Jason, do you want to talk about it? I mean, you're probably looking at the wrong person but..." He didn't finish his sentence.**

**"Thanks, Leo." He said, carrying on with staring off into the distance.**

**Neither of them said anything for a while until Jason decided he didn't like being pitied.**

**"Don't you have something to do, like, steer a massive warship?" He asked, trying to make it not sound harsh.**

**"Autopilot."**

**"Oh."**

**There was another silence until Jason started talking again, more to himself than to Leo.**

**"The feeling you get when you leave some place important is a weird feeling, isn't it?" He didn't wait for a response. "It's, like, you're not only going to miss everyone you're leaving behind but you'll miss the person you are now. The person you are at this time and at this place. This quest is going to change me, it's going to change all of us, and I won't come back as the same 'Jason'. I'll never be this way ever again and it just feels weird."**

**"That, my friend, is called northhellgia." Leo said wisely.**

**"'Nostalgia', you mean."**

**"'Nostalgia', I said."**

**Jason rolled his eyes, trying to hold back a smile. It was good to see that despite going on a death mission, Leo was still the same.**

**He looked over at the curly-haired boy and the curly-haired boy looked over at him. He couldn't contain it anymore and the grin appeared on his face. Valdez also had a smile too large for his face on as he threw an arm around Jason's shoulder a led him away from the deck.**

**"Come on, Jason. The supreme commander of the Argo II, that is Uncle Leo to you, will show you what the big red button in the steering room does if you think that'll take your mind off your sorry love life and nasty future."**

**"Leo? Everyone knows what that button does; it's the emergency button that shuts down the whole ship. While it's a mighty fine round, red button, I've already seen it."**

**"Oh, please. That's only what I told Annabeth to get her off my back about safety. Let's just say that what it really does involves disco lights and a lot of confetti." He replied mischievously, leading them both to the control room.**


	23. Author's notes 3

I love Reyna and Jason, I love how Leo never lets rain dampen his parade, I also love you guys for reading and I even love those who didn't.

Thanks to Mr Rick Riordan, who's last name I still have to double check when writing, for breaking my heart. I still believe you are one of the greatest people to have walked the earth because you came up with the characters in my OTP. Thank you to those who checked out my story every day (I kept my promise of uploading!), to those who read it all in one shot and even to those who read a bit but decided to give up. If my story came across your mind, even if it was just for a split second as you were scrolling through other stories, I'm fine, in a pathetic kind of way, with that. Also, thank you to all the other authors I read, you guys still manage to wow me with all the stuff you come up with. You are amazing!

Until my next story, goodbye to all my faithful readers! May us Jeyna fans continue shipping our ship until we can ship no longer.

Love always, V.

P.S. I'm a little lost as to where to go next and what to write next now that The End of this Wait and the Beginning of Another has officially come to an end. Hopefully you will see something new from me in the near future. Fingers crossed!


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